Abu Sayyaf: Extremists or profiteers?

Formed by Islamic fundamentalist Abdurajik Abubakar Janjalani, who trained in the Middle East -- and reportedly met with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- Abu Sayyaf is a violent extremist group who split from established Philippines separatist movement Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1991.

Although the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, the south of the country has historically had a large Muslim population, and Abu Sayyaf's stated aim is to establish an independent Islamic state on the southern island of Mindanao.

The group first became active in the early 1990s and were responsible for a series of bombings carried out across the southern Philippines and in the neighboring Malaysian state of Sabah during this time.

Following the 9/11 attacks in the U.S., Washington has worked hard with the Philippine military to try and put a stop to the group's terrorist activities.

Largely weakened by these attacks, Abu Sayyaf started to move from large-scale bombings to kidnappings in mid-2000. A move many analysts believe was more profit-driven and criminal in intent.

"Abu Sayyaf was formerly what we all think of when we think of a terrorist organization," said Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Washington-based Center for Strategic International Studies.

"But after about 15 years of a pretty harsh crackdown by the U.S. and the Philippines, what they've basically become is a criminal group made up of a few hundred who engage in extortion and kidnapping."

Poling said the group is now largely fragmented with only around 200 to 400 members, and lacks the popular local support base it enjoyed in the early 1990s.

"This is basically a group of criminals whose only support comes from family connections in the local communities," he said.

ISIS affiliation?

Although reportedly trained and funded by al Qaeda and Indonesia-based militant group Jemaah Islamiyah at the outset, Abu Sayyaf's connection to established overseas Muslim extremist groups has been well publicized but remains tenuous.

A small number of members of the group publicly swore allegiance to ISIS in a video posted to YouTube in 2014, but Poling said ISIS has been "very hesitant to recognize that formerly, to set up a caliphate in Southeast Asia."

While Abu Sayyaf was inspired by al Qaeda and has undoubtedly received financial support from overseas extremist groups in the past, there's no evidence of such support today, said Poling.

"There's still no direct evidence of support or funding from IS (ISIS) of anything beyond the, I guess cache, that Abu Sayyaf, or some members of Abu Sayyaf, felt like they got from this public swearing," he added.

Do they have other hostages?

Following Ridsdel's murder, 13 other foreign nationals are being held captive by Abu Sayyaf, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Abu Sayyaf is also holding Robert Hall and Marites Flor.

They include Canadian Robert Hall, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad and Filipina Marites Flor -- who were kidnapped along with Ridsdel -- as well as a Dutchman, and 10 Indonesian sailors who were abducted in the waters off the southern Philippines. A number of Filipinos are also being held hostage.

An Italian missionary, Rolando del Torchio, who was abducted by Abu Sayyaf at a café in October 2015, was recovered by police in the southern Philippines in early April.

Can Abu Sayyaf be defeated?

Despite a concerted campaign by the Philippines military to halt Abu Sayyaf's activities over many years -- an operation that has been supported by the U.S. and Australian governments -- Poling said it has been "disappointing" that the group haven't yet been eradicated.

However, he said significant inroads have been made in reducing its membership, while many of its leaders have been killed in battles in the region. Its founder Janjalani was killed by police in 1998.

A national Philippines court also declared the group a terrorist organization under a rarely-used law in 2015, effectively outlawing membership.

However, Poling said numerous obstacles remain in eradicating the group completely, including the weakness of the Philippine military across much of the south, the porousness of the region's borders with neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia, and its remote geographic location generally.

"Once they get into the jungles of Mindanao there's a saying that the Philippine State controls the roads and others control the countryside down there," he said.

Renewed international attention may help overcome these roadblocks, but that may be little consolation to the 13 hostages who remain under guard by Abu Sayyaf in the jungles of Mindanao.

CNN Philippines contributed to the reporting in this story.

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