Bandits, gov’t troops killed in clash

Inabanga, Bohol (Google Maps)

Government troops on Tuesday clashed with members of Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), resulting to casualties in both parties.

Philippine National Police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said that government forces fired at ASG early Tuesday in the town of Inabanga in Bohol.

The firefight that lasted for almost 12 hours left five ASG bandits, three soldiers, and a policeman dead.

Dela Rosa believed that the group of bandits attempted its first kidnapping activity on that day. He identified the group as ASG due to the manner of their arrival in Inabanga.

According to him, reports showed that the group arrived by three boats, a modus operandi likened to ASG.

ASG has a history of kidnapping both foreigners and locals for ranson money. They were the perpetrators of the kidnapping and eventual beheading of Canadians Robert Hall and John Ridsdel. Hall and Ridsdel were kidnapped in Samal Island, Davao del Norte in Mindanao while they were on vacation.

Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom this week have issued travel advisories to their citizens that warned them of travelling to most parts of Mindanao