"They’re less ideological and more violent and they’re more interested in their own survival, in making money," says Marielle Harris, a research analyst with the Counter Extremism Project. "The average Abu Sayyaf fighter would fail a basic test on Islam." Abu Sayyaf raked in almost $7.5 million from ransom kidnappings in the first six months of 2016, according to a confidential report from the Philippine government cited by Harris. The group, which operates mostly in the Sulu Archipelago and Zamboanga Peninsula, has been turning to kidnapping the crews of foreign tugboats, according to the military/police threat assessment report.