Philippines: 6 Daesh-linked militants killed in clashes

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) – At least six members of a Daesh-affiliated group were killed in clashes Friday in two majority Muslim island provinces in the troubled Philippines south, according to the military.

Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., Western Mindanao Command spokesman, told Anadolu Agency by phone, “the military coordinated with the Scene of the Crime Operatives to conduct documentation of the ASG [Abu Sayyaf group] body counts.”

He added that pursuit operations are ongoing in Sulu and Basilan as the military “continues to conduct all-out offensives targeting the Abu Sayyaf Group to neutralize the threat group”.

In a separate press statement, Tan said that two militants were killed at around 6.30 a.m. (2230GMT Thursday) in Basilan’s Tipo-Tipo town, where Abu Sayyaf members reportedly tried to capture the municipal hall and raise a Daesh flag earlier this month.

Nine soldiers sustained minor injuries and were airlifted to a hospital at a military camp in the predominantly Christian city of Zamboanga.

Meanwhile in Sulu, four Abu Sayyaf members were left dead following intensified military operations in Indanan town at around at 8.50 a.m.

"Close air support was provided to the engaged troops. Military troops further recovered the remains of the enemy casualties," Tan said.

"On the government side, two soldiers were slightly wounded and were promptly extricated by augmenting troops” to a camp in the provincial capital of Jolo, according to Tan, and “are now in stable condition".

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf group -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines.

Earlier this year, the group beheaded two Canadian hostages after ransoms failed to be paid. It has threatened to decapitate a Norwegian captured with them in September if a P300-million ($6 million) ransom demand is not met.

Two militant groups in the Philippines troubled south -- the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the Abu Sayyaf -- have pledged allegiance to Daesh, prompting fears -- during the stalling of a peace process between the government and the country’s one-time largest Muslim rebel group -- that Daesh could make inroads in a region torn by decades of armed conflict.