Four Abu Sayyaf militants, including a suspected would-be suicide bomber and a commander responsible for multiple beheadings were killed in the Philippines, according to military officials.
Intending to serve a warrant for the arrest of Injam Yadah in his home after midnight, Philippine Army troops backed by police were engaged in a gun battle.
Upon arriving at Yadah’s home in Alat village in Jolo town in Sulu province, the terrorist and his men opened fire. According to regional military commander Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr.,the four militants died during the ensuing gun battle.
Yadah was accused of being involved in the kidnappings for ransom of both Filipinos and foreigners, including “eight Indonesian fishermen who were abducted at sea off Malaysia in early 2020 and brought to the southern Philippines,” Military.com reports.
Three of the kidnapped Indonesians were freed and four were rescued by Filipino troops, while one was shot and killed during an escape attempt.
“He had a reputation for being extremely violent, beheading captured innocent civilians and security forces alike,” military commander Maj. Gen. William Gonzales said of Yadah.
The terrorist was also linked to the 2015 kidnapping of four people, including two tourists from Canada, who were separately beheaded by their captors after a ransom payment lapsed. One of the kidnappers was Injam Yadah’s brother, Mujir Yadah.
Another terrorist that was killed in the gun battle was bomb-maker and would-be suicide bomber al-Al Sawadjaan, who was the younger brother of Abu Sayyaf commander Mundi Sawadjaan, the main suspect behind several recent suicide attacks in Sulu. The Sawadjaan family belongs to a faction of Abu Sayyaf that has pledged its allegiance to ISIS.
Sulu is a predominantly Muslim province of the Philippines.
Military.com reports that, “this year, at least 18 Abu Sayyaf militants have been killed, 17 captured while 86 others have surrendered in Sulu, the military said.”
After the gun battle, troops seized a rifle, a pistol, bomb parts, and fifteen cellphones. Yadah’s wife was taken into custody, and his three children were “rescued,” according to the military.
Abu Sayyaf has been blacklisted by both the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization due to its tactics, including bombings, ransom kidnappings, and beheadings. Though the group has been weakened by setbacks, surrenders, and factionalism, it is still considered a national security threat.
