At least nine people were killed on Tuesday in a gun battle between government troops and suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits in Bohol province, far from the terrorists’ southern jungle bases and in a region where the US government had warned the gunmen might carry out kidnappings. Not all, according to residents of remote village of Napo, Inabanga where alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf entered on Monday afternoon and engaged the joint military and police team in heavy gunfight that lasted for more than 24 hours. Noli Taliño, police director for Central Visayas, said on Wednesday that Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Rami was among the five alleged members of the bandit group who were killed in the firefight. Our main campaign to decimate the Abu Sayyaf will continue and it is making headway,” he said, adding that the military was expecting more Abu Sayyaf members to surrender after 11 “notorious” members conceded in Tawi-Tawi on Tuesday.
Ten people are killed in Inabanga, Bohol, in the Philippines' Central Visayas, after the country's National Police and Armed Forces clash with suspected members of Abu Sayyaf.