bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

At least eight people were killed on Tuesday in clashes with 10 suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap group on the resort island of Bohol, authorities said.
Military officials said at least five gunmen, two soldiers and a policeman had died in the ongoing gunbattle in a village in the coastal town of Inabanga.
The incursion would be the first on a major Philippine tourist destination in recent years by the Abu Sayyaf, which has long engaged in kidnappings for ransom – often targeting foreigners in the lawless southern Philippines.
Bohol is about an hour away by boat from Cebu province, a bustling commercial and tourism hub in the region.


National police chief Ronald dela Rosa says troops and policemen attacked the gunmen early on Tuesday in Inabanga, where the gunmen took cover in three houses.
“If we were not able to monitor this and engage them with our government forces, it’s a cause for alarm if they were able to carry out kidnappings,” dela Rosa said.
Military chief of staff General Eduardo Ano said military intelligence operatives had been trying to track down the movements of the suspected militants, who first travelled from Sulu to southern Zamboanga peninsula. Intelligence later indicated the gunmen landed ashore in Inabanga, prompting military and police officials to deploy their forces, he said.
The gunmen travelled in motor boats along a river to Inabanga’s Napo village, where government forces assaulted them, military spokesman Colonel Edgard Arevalo said, adding that troops recovered four rifles and a home-made bomb from the slain gunmen.
The US and Australian embassies warned their citizens this week about possible kidnappings by “terrorist groups” in the central Philippines.
Bohol is a major tourist destination, where foreign tourists swim with whale sharks and marvel at tiny primates called tarsiers, go on cruises aboard boats on crystal-clear rivers and lounge at white sand beaches.

“Residents told us the gunmen could have been Muslims because they were aboard boats that are used only in Mindanao,” Inabanga police officer Edwin Melicor said, referring to a Muslim-populated southern area.
The Abu Sayyaf, also blamed for deadly bombings, has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State movement that holds large swathes of Iraq and Syria.
Over the past year the Abu Sayyaf has been expanding its activities, boarding commercial and fishing vessels off their southern island stronghold of Jolo, near Malaysia, and abducting dozens of foreign crew members.
They beheaded a German tourist earlier this year and two Canadian tourists last year, all three of them having been seized at sea.
Additional reporting by Associated Press


At least eight killed in militant attack on Philippine resort island

A file photo of the Chocolate Hills of Bohol island. Photo: AFP

In this photo taken on April 4, 2017 Philippine army soldiers stand aboard a vehicle during a march and review as part of their anniversary celebration at Fort Bonifacio in Manila. A Philippine police officer was killed on April 11, 2017 in clashes with 10 suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap group on the resort island of Bohol, authorities said. / AFP PHOTO / TED ALJIBE

News

Asia

Southeast Asia