Manila: Philippine forces have killed at least 21 Abu Sayyaf gunmen in Sulu, in an offensive launched at the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, after the beheading of a student last Wednesday.
Lieutenant-General Mayoralgo dela Cruz, head of the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command said Abu Sayyaf fatalities had risen to 21 after at least three sub-commanders of the militant group and their men were killed in clashes in the highland areas of Patikul and Talipao.
Government forces have suffered 17 casualties in the encounters, which came after Duterte issued orders to the military to “destroy” the Abu Sayyaf.
The Abu Sayyaf had on Wednesday executed 18 year-old Patrick Jhames Almodovar, after his family failed to come up with ransom.
His captors had been demanding P1 million (Dh78,997) in exchange for his freedom.
The government’s Task Force Comet had been pressing on with its offensives in Sulu as well as Basilan in hopes of degrading the capability of the Western Mindanao-based terror group before it can carry out further kidnappings.
President Duterte had earlier admitted openly that the family of a Norwegian kidnap victim, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, had paid P50 million (Dh3.94 million) to the Abu Sayyaf but that the militants had reneged on their promise to release the captive.
Sekkingstad was abducted from Samal Island in Davao Del Norte last September 21, 2015 together with two Canadians and a Filipina.
They were later on taken to Sulu.
The two Canadians were executed separately after authorities refused to pay ransom but the Filipina, Marites Flor, was later on released. Only Sekkingstad remains in captivity among the victims abducted from Samal.
Armed Forces Public Affairs Office chief, Marine Col. Edgard Arevalo said government forces will keep up efforts to rescue Sekkingstad while continuing their offensive against the Abu Sayyaf.
Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the government is pouring in more resources in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf.
He said the government will be adding five more battalions or a further 2,500 men, in addition to those already on the island.
“We are further awaiting the additional troops to get into position,” Lorenzana, a former Army general who formed the military Special Operations Command (SOCOM), said.
The government had been fighting the Abu Sayyaf over the past two decades since the group was established by the late Abu Bakre Janjalani, a cleric.
