2 Abu Sayyaf men in ‘terror watchlist’ slain

MANILA: Two subleaders of the Daesh-linked Abu Sayyaf militants included in the military’s “terror watchlist” were killed in an encounter with government security forces in their intensified campaign to rescue their remaining foreign hostages on the island province of Sulu in Mindanao.

This was confirmed on Monday by Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, the military’s Western Mindanao Command, who identified one of the fatalities as Taullah Abduraya, a henchman of Abu Sayyaf leader Radullah Sahiron.

Sobejana said two members of the elite Army Scout Rangers were wounded in the encounter that occured on Sunday afternoon in a “barangay” (village) in the town of Patikul, Sulu where the Abu Sayyaf terrorists operate with impunity.

The Scout Rangers were supported by heavy mortar bombardmen in battling the estimated 40 Abu Sayyar militants who pledged allegiance to the Daesh extremists in the Middle East that also resulted in the seizure of heavy weapons, according to Sobejana.

He said the campaign was part of the military’s intensified operations to rescue the remaining foreign hostages including five Indonesian fishermen who were recently abducted from Malaysia’s state of Sabah.

Pursuit and follow-up operations will continue, Sobejana pointed out as he assured: “We aim to build up combined combat and intelligence operations to debilitate these terrorists in Sulu.”

In particular, Sobejana noted that the Abu Sayyas has been “coddling” foreign terrorisrts to train their members in the manufacture of improvised bombs as well as carry out attacks including suicide bombings.

The Abu Sayyaf has gained notoriety through a spate of kidnap for ransom cases since the early 2000s that have often been marred by the beheading of their foreign and Filipino hostages.

Regional and Filipino security experts also revealed they have confirmed the link of the Abu Sayyaf to the global Al Qaeda terror network through the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah extremists.

The mililtary likewise blamed the Abu Sayyaf and the Maute Group that both pledged allegiance to the Daesh militants for laying siege to Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur, in May 2017

The military said Daesh leaders ordered the two terror groups to capture Marawi and convert it into a caliphate for use in their expansion plans in Southeast Asia.