Troops kill 4 Abu Sayyaf members in Bohol clashes

The military on Saturday killed four suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf group in several clashes in Clarin, Bohol.

Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said a clash took place at around 1 p.m. in Barangay Nahawan.

Padilla said the military believes that the group encountered by troops in Clarin is part of the Abu Sayyaf group that slipped into Inabanga town last week.

"Naniniwala ang ating tropa na ang mga nakasagupa na ito ay parte ng grupong hinahabol sa Inabanga," Padilla told radio dzBB.

Lt. Col. Oscar Lacdao, chief of the AFP's Central Mindanao Command, said one of bandits killed in the clash was Joselito Melloria, the alleged local contact of the Abu Sayyaf in Bohol.

Security expert Rommel Banlaoi of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, Inc. had said that Melloria, a native of Bohol, is the leader of the local terror group Ansar Khalifa Philippines.

Lacdao said at least seven Abu Sayyaf members, including those who have been slain, are being pursued by troops in Bohol.

More clashes

Hours after the gun battle in which Melloria was killed, three more Abu Sayyaf gunmen were slain in skirmishing in Sitio Lagsing, in Clarin's Barangay Bacani.

In an interview on dzBB on Sunday morning, Padilla said only three of the Abu Sayyaf intruders in Bohol are in hiding on the island province, and that the bandits-on-the-run pose "zero" threat to the province. 

Central Visayas security forces also recovered two high-powered guns in the skirmishes.

Meanwhile, local authorities said at least 1,000 people have evacuated Barangay Nahawan due to the clash.

The operation was launched following the clash in Barangay Napo, Inabanga town last week, which resulted in the death of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Muammar Askali alias Abu Rami.

Ten people, including six bandits and four members of the security forces, were killed in last week's clash. — ALG/DVM/LBG, GMA News