CEBU (Updated) -- An Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) leader and three other bandits were killed on Saturday, April 22, in a gunfight with government troops in Clarin town, Bohol, a police official said.

Bohol Provincial Police Office Director Felipe Natividad confirmed the death of Abu Sayyaf leader Joselito Melloria.

The Municipality of Inabanga in a Facebook post confirmed that the three other fatalities were ASG bandits but their identification are still unknown.

The gunfight started around 12 noon, Saturday, in Sitio Lagising, Barangay Bacane, Clarin town, Bohol with the Clarin Police Station conducting a blocking force in the area.


Clarin is a town next to Inabanga town located at 11.5 kilometers.

Clarin Police Station Chief Fernando Peroramas, in an interview with SunStar Cebu, said the residents in the area were advised to stay in their homes.

“There was no time to evacuate. They were advised to hide,” Peroramas said.

Troops from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Special Weapons and Tactic, Provincial Intelligence Branch Bohol, Military Intelligence Group and the local police are still in the area.

On same day, around 9 p.m. a second encounter between the government troops and the remaining members of ASG occurred that left three bandits dead.

On April 11, a police officer and three soldiers died while five terrorists were killed during the clash in Inabanga, Bohol.

A day after, the body of the Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Maumar Askali, alias Abu Rami, was retrieved. (SunStar Cebu/SunStar Philippines)
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