16 Facts About Isnilon Hapilon

Isnilon Hapilon was formerly leader of Abu Sayyaf Group, before its battalions pledged their allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

An April 2016 issue of IS's weekly newsletter Al-Naba said that Hapilon had been appointed as "emir of all Islamic State forces in the Philippines".

Isnilon Hapilon started elementary school in 1978, at the age of 10, enrolling at Maluso Central Elementary School.

Isnilon Hapilon then enrolled at Basilan National High School, but his transcript ends with his first year even though he was eligible to proceed to second year.

The FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list, and some newspapers including the Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Straits Times, and The Philippine Star, reported that Isnilon Hapilon earned an engineering degree from the University of the Philippines.

Isnilon Hapilon spoke Tausug, Tagalog, Yakan, and Arabic, as well as English.

Isnilon Hapilon joined the Moro National Liberation Front in 1985 and traveled between Sulu and Basilan.

Disaffected with the MNLF while in hiding in Sampinit, Isnilon Hapilon joined the Abu Sayyaf group led by Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, who became his religious mentor.

Isnilon Hapilon eventually rose through the ranks of Abu Sayyaf, becoming one of the group's leaders.

Isnilon Hapilon was the only one of the five indicted still alive by 2017.

In July 2002, Philippine authorities raided Isnilon Hapilon's suspected hideout in Zamboanga City with the intention of arresting him.

In May 2008, Isnilon Hapilon was shot in the hand during a military operation in Jolo.

Isnilon Hapilon was wounded in April 2013, in a military offensive that killed eight other Islamist militants in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan.

Isnilon Hapilon sustained a "slight wound" on the head during the raid, but his followers managed to drag him off safely before the soldiers could seize control of their base.

Isnilon Hapilon was known to be in Butig, Lanao del Sur for rectifying the Maute group and joining Abu Sayyaf to establish Islamic State in the Philippines.

Isnilon Hapilon was later promoted as emir of the "East Asia Province".