MANILA, Nov 24 (NNN-PNA) – Philippine security forces have killed an alleged liaison of the Daesh to the Abu Sayyaf militants, operating in the remote island provinces in southern Philippines, the military confirmed on Saturday.
The military’s Joint Task Force Sulu (JTFS), identified the slain militant as Talha Jumsah, also known as Abu Talha. He was reportedly killed during a clash at around 7:15 a.m. local time on Friday.
The military said, Abu Talha’s body was recovered about 800 metres away from the encounter site, during the follow-up military operations on Saturday.
“Abu Talha is a high-value target of the AFP (the Armed Forces of the Philippines) in Sulu. Accordingly, he is a Daesh-trained improvised explosive device (IED) expert, who served as an instructor to the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), in the fabrication of more lethal and destructive IED’s that caused tremendous casualties during suicide bombings in Sulu,” the military said.
Three of the four deadly suicide attacks in southern Philippines this year took place in Sulu.
The military added, Abu Talha “also served as the finance conduit and liaison between foreign and local terrorist communication lines.”
Brigadier General Antonio Nafarrete, the brigade commander of the Army’s 1101st Brigade, cited the help of local community in neutralising Abu Talha.
Nafarrete said, Abu Talha’s death “will surely cause demoralisation in the ASG ranks in Sulu.”
Abu Sayyaf militants operate in waters, off the west coast of Mindanao island in southern Philippines, but has also conducted cross-border operations into eastern Malaysia.
The group preys on foreign tourists, businessmen and fishermen, not only from the Philippines but also from Indonesia and Malaysia, and hide them in the Philippines jungles or remote islands.- NNN-PNA