15 killed as troops and militants clash

Security forces recover 11 bodies of the Daesh-linked militants during lull in firefight

Three military personnel, one policeman and 11 members of the Daeshlinked Abu Sayyaf group, were reportedly killed in clashes in Bohol, central Philippines, yesterday.

Members of the 47th Infantry Battalion, Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO), the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) and the regional Philippine National Police (PNP) clashed with members of the Abu Sayyaf group in Napo Village, Inabanga mountain town, in Bohol province, at 3 early in the morning, Senior Police Officer Edwin Melicor of Inabanga Police Station said.

Armed men reported

Residents reported to police on Monday the presence of 10 armed men on board three strange-looking pump boats (outrigger canoes) along the river of So Ilaya, Melicor said.

Emerging from their boats, the armed men occupied three houses near the river where they were eventually trapped, said PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa.

Soldiers and policemen recovered 11 militants’ bodies during a lull in the firefight, said Dela Rosa, adding that four high-powered firearms, including three M16s and one M15 and a sack with improvised explosive devices were seized from them.

There had been no clearing operation yet, dela Rosa said.

Additional forces from the army, air force and navy were deployed at the national highway away, where the military and police officers had been engaged in firefights with Abu Sayyaf fighters at So Ilaya since 3am yesterday in the morning, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen Eduardo Año said .

“Clashes are ongoing,” Inabanga Mayor Roygie Jumamoy said.

US embassy warning

Several conflicting intelligence reports said that Abu Sayyaf members were seen at So Ilaya’s river at 10am on Monday. Another report claimed that southern Zambales del Norte-based Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Abu Rami arrived at Inabanga town around 5pm on Monday.

In a statement on its website on Sunday, the US Embassy warned it has “received unsubstantiated yet credible information that terrorist groups may attempt to conduct kidnappings in Central Visayas, which includes both Cebu and Bohol provinces”.

The Australian Embassy issued a similar warning on Monday.

At the time, police chief dela Rosa assured So Ilaya’s residents, “Don’t be afraid. I am giving assurance that the police force in central Visayas is ready [to protect everyone there].”