Abu Sayyaf

The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia forged a trilateral agreement last year for joint patrol in the borders of the three countries to guard against hijacking and kidnappings by gunmen linked to the Abu Sayyaf group.

After the intensive campaign of the military in Sulu against the Abu Sayyaf Group, it is expected that more members of the terrorist group will surrender.

The Abu Sayyaf Group abducted the two Indonesian nationals from two different fishing boats off Kertam, Sabah, Malaysia on November 4, 2016, the report said.

Abu Sayyaf Group was first listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia in November 2002, al-Qaida in October 2002, al-Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb in November 2002, Jabhat al-Nusra in June 2013, Jamiat ul-Ansar in November 2002, and Jemaah Islamiyah in October 2002.

The military commander said the firefight ensued for five minutes as the Abu Sayyaf group managed to withdraw tagging along with them their wounded leader.

Another 12 are from the smaller but more violent Abu Sayyaf group, he added.

Police were still investigating if the Abu Sayyaf group was behind the attack.

Interior secretary Angelo Reyes said four leaders of the al--Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group were among the dead.

Only last month the US troops stopped their joint exercises against the Abu Sayyaf group - who are responsible for a spate of kidnappings including western tourists.

Bin Laden and his brother-in-law, Mohammed Khalifa, set up al-Qaeda operations in the Philippines in the early 1990s, working closely with the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group.

Fifteen hostages seized by the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippines were freed on the 12th day of a military rescue operation, but four hostages died, including a Claretian priest.

Four more members of the Abu Sayyaf group surrendered to the military in Sulu on Saturday.

The terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) beheaded a married couple in a remote village on Basilan island, a military official confirmed on Friday.

A week before Christmas day, a soldier was killed while two others were wounded when they were ambushed by members of the Abu Sayyaf Group in Basilan on Monday morning.

Manila: Three armymen, one policeman and 11 members of the Daesh-linked Abu Sayyaf group, were reportedly killed in clashes in Bohol, central Philippines, on Tuesday.