THE Central Command (Centcom) and Police Regional Office (PRO) in Central Visayas said on Monday evening, May 15, “Bohol is now cleared from Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) elements.”
The announcement came after the two remaining bandits were killed in an encounter with government security forces on Monday.
Abu Asis, the last Abu Sayyaf remnant, was killed around 5:30 p.m. Monday, a military source confirmed.
The joint Centcom and PRO-Central Visayas statement said Asis was spotted at Sitio San Vicente Barangay Lawis Bohol, about 100 meters from the encounter site, where Abu Ubayda, also an ASG member, was earlier killed.
Asis resisted arrest and chose to fight it out with the government troops, resulting in his death, the statement said.
Authorities said a caliber .45 pistol with inserted magazine containing four ammunition was found in his possession.
“With the death of Asis and Ubayda, all the ASG members that landed in Bohol province aboard three bancas in early April 2017 were all neutralized. Bohol is now cleared of ASG elements,” the statement said. (JOB with Pia Noreen Bilar/SunStar Philippines)
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