Philippine police kill Abu Sayyaf militant involved in 15 beheadings and other atrocities

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine forces killed an Abu Sayyaf militant who was involved in previous beheadings, including of 10 Filipino marines and two kidnapped Vietnamese, during a clash in the south, they said Friday from police officials.

Philippine police, backed by military intelligence agents, killed Nawapi Abdulsaid in a brief shootout Wednesday evening in the remote coastal town of Hadji Mohammad Ajul on the island of Basilan after weeks of surveillance, officials said. security officials.

Abu Sayyaf is a small but violent armed Muslim group that has been blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization for kidnappings for ransom, beheadings, bombings and other bloody attacks .

It has been significantly weakened by battle setbacks, capitulations and infighting, but remains a security threat, particularly in the southern Philippines, home to a Muslim minority in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

Abdulsaid, who used the nom de guerre Khatan, was one of several Abu Sayyaf militants who aligned themselves with the Islamic State group.

A confidential police report says Abdulsaid was involved in at least 15 beheadings in Basilan, including that of 10 Filipino marines in Al-Barka town in 2007 and two of six Vietnamese sailors kidnapped near Sumisip town in 2016. The Vietnamese were captured during a crossing. cargo.

It was also involved in attacks on government forces in 2022 and a bombing in November that killed two pro-government militiamen and injured two others in Basilan, the report said.

Abdulsaid was placed under surveillance in February, but police were unable to immediately arrest him due to the “hostile nature” of the area where he was ultimately shot, the report said.

Philippine troops on Monday killed the leader of another Muslim rebel group and 11 of his men accused of past bombings and extortion in another clash in a swampy hinterland in the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, in southern Maguindanao del Sur province, the military said.

Seven soldiers were injured in clashes with members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters are among a few small armed groups still struggling to lead a separatist uprising in the southern Philippines.

The largest armed separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, signed a peace deal with the government in 2014 that eased decades of sporadic fighting.

Rebel commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front became parliamentarians and administrators of a five-province Muslim autonomous region as part of a transitional arrangement after the signing of the peace accord. They are preparing for regular elections scheduled for next year.