Troops kill Sayyaf fighter in fresh Sulu clash (WARNING: Contains graphic image)

SULU – Government soldiers killed an Abu Sayyaf militant in a clash in the Muslim province of Sulu in the southern Philippines, officials said Wednesday.

Officials said troops attacked a lair of the Abu Sayyaf in Mount Tumatangis in Indanan town, site of a recent battle between the terrorist pro-ISIS group and the former rebel group Moro National Liberation Front that left 7 of its members wounded.

Military photos show the slain Abu Sayyaf fighter and his weapon. 

The Tuesday fighting lasted 15 minutes with soldiers seizing the Abu Sayyaf encampment, including an automatic rifle with grenade launcher, cell phones, solar panels and provision. There was no report of military casualty in the fighting.

The operation against the Abu Sayyaf is continuing in Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the troubled Muslim autonomous region. The Abu Sayyaf, whose leaders pledged allegiance to ISIS, is fighting for the establishment of a caliphate, and also involved in ransom kidnappings in southern Philippines and in Sabah, Malaysia.

Despite its notoriety, the Duterte government continues to lure terrorists to surrender and promising them financial and livelihood aid and in some cases, amnesty and even jobs as members of the army’s militia units.

This government program was also implemented in previous administrations, but hundreds of those who surrendered and received financial aid had either returned to mountains to fight again after spending their money, or had joined other rebel groups only to surrender under a different identity to avail the same program. (Zamboanga Post)

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