The Philippines military said on April 17 that it had killed a foreign terrorist and two members of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in sulu province in the southern Philippines, according to the Philippines News Agency.
The military said it exchanged fire with a group of members of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group while on duty at around 22:45 local time on April 16. The exchange of fire lasted about ten minutes, and the military killed three people, while the rest of the terrorists fled in multiple directions. Among the three killed were an Egyptian terrorist and two members of the Abu Sayyaf.
The military said it monitored a total of five foreign terrorists, all of them Egyptians, active in Sulu province, one of whom was killed. The man’s mother tried unsuccessfully to carry out a suicide bombing in September 2019 and was killed by the military.
One of the two homegrown terrorists killed was a bomb-making expert and the other may have been linked to the August 2020 Horo bombing and the January 2019 Khoro church bombing. The military also seized a cache of firearms and ammunition during the operation.
The Philippines military said the killings were linked to suicide attacks, so the operation greatly reduced the chances of such a terrorist attack. They have also cut off foreign funding for the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group. The military will continue its counter-terrorism operations with a view to the early elimination of terrorist organizations in Sulu province.
