Philippines army kills 11 Abu Sayyaf members on Duterte’s order

Abu Sayyaf militants in Southern Philippines. Image via YouTube.

26th August 2016

AT least 11 Abu Sayyaf militants, including an influential commander, were killed in a Philippine military assault on the terror network following their beheading of a captive over an unpaid ransom.

Regional military commander Maj. Filemon Tan says 17 soldiers were wounded when hundreds of army troops surrounded a vast jungle area in Sulu province’s mountainous Patikul town Friday and clashed with scattered groups of about 100 militants.

Tan says one of the 11 dead militants is Amah Maas, a commander with severed arms, who had been implicated in ransom kidnappings, including of European tourists.

President Rodrigo Duterte had ordered the troops to seek and destroy the militants in their jungle bases after the extremists beheaded a Filipino teenager abducted last month.

SEE ALSO: Philippines: 40 Abu Sayyaf members killed in military offensive

Abu Sayyaf extremists beheaded a kidnapped Filipino villager after a ransom deadline lapsed in their first such brutal act under Duterte, who pressed an order for troops to crush the militants.

Regional military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan says the militants killed Patrick James Aldovar on Wednesday near southern Sulu province’s Indanan town then later abandoned his head in a neighborhood.

Tan said Thursday that Aldovar, who was seized by the militants July 16 in Sulu’s main Jolo town, was decapitated after his family failed to pay ransom.

SEE ALSO: Philippines government confirms beheading of Canadian national

After learning about the beheading, Duterte ordered his troops: “Drug dealers, destroy them. Abu Sayyaf, destroy them. Period.”

The Abu Sayyaf has been blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the Philippines for deadly bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.

Additional reporting from the Associated Press