MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine troops battling militants in a central province killed a key Abu Sayyaf commander who had been blamed for the beheadings of two Canadians and a German hostage and was apparently attempting another kidnapping mission, the country's military chief said today.
Gen. Eduardo Ano, the military's chief of staff, said troops recovered and identified the remains of Moammar Askali, also known as Abu Rami, at the scene of the battle in a far-flung coastal village on Bohol island. Five other Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed in the fighting Tuesday, along with three soldiers and a policeman.
Ano said troops took the picture of Askali after his death and that captured Abu Sayyaf militants identified the young militant leader.
"This is a major blow to the Abu Sayyaf," Ano said. "If they have further plans to kidnap innocent people somewhere, they will now have to think twice."
The military chief said Askali had led a group of militants who traveled by speedboats to Bohol province in an apparent bid to carry out a kidnapping in the region, which is popular for its beach resorts and wildlife.
Sporadic gunbattles between the remaining Abu Sayyaf militants and government forces continued today, military officials said.
National police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said troops and policemen attacked the gunmen early Tuesday in the coastal town of Inabanga, where the gunmen had arrived aboard three boats. The gunmen took cover in three houses as the firefight broke out.
Government forces seized control of two of the houses, and the rest of the gunmen either were in the third house or had fled the area, dela Rosa said.
It's Abu Sayyaf's first known attempt to carry out ransom kidnappings deep in the heartland of the central Philippines, far from its jungle hideouts in the southern provinces of Sulu and Basilan.
Bohol island, where one of the world's smallest primates, called tarsiers, are found, drawing many tourists, lies about 397 miles southeast of Manila. Bohol is about an hour away by boat from Cebu province, across the busy Cebu Strait, which is crisscrossed daily by ferries, cargo ships and fishing vessels.
Abu Sayyaf militants have crossed the sea border with Malaysia on powerful speedboats and kidnapped scores of foreign tourists in past years. In 2001, they sailed as far as western Palawan province, where they seized 20 people, including three Americans, from a resort, two of whom were later killed.
"If we were not able to monitor this and engage them with our government forces, it's a cause for alarm if they were able to carry out kidnappings," dela Rosa said.
Ano said military intelligence operatives had been trying to track the movements of the militants, who first traveled from Sulu to southern Zamboanga Peninsula. Intelligence officials later reported that the gunmen had gone ashore in Inabanga, prompting military and police officials to deploy their forces, he said.
A Section on 04/12/2017