The document provides background information on the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), an Islamic separatist extremist group active in the southern Philippines. It summarizes that ASG was founded in 1991 by Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan war, with the goal of establishing an Islamic state. However, following losses of leadership in the late 1990s and 2000s, ASG fractured into smaller groups focused more on criminal activities like kidnapping and piracy to fund operations, rather than the original ideological goals. The document examines ASG's origins, leadership history, and motivations in seeking to establish an independent Islamic state for the Muslim minority in the southern Philippines