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Courtesy of JTF Sulu
MANILA - State forces on Tuesday killed 7 members of the Islamic State-linked group Abu Sayyaf, who were on a speedboat, in a gunfight in Sulu Sea, the military said.
The military's Joint Task Force Sulu on Tuesday released videos showing security forces exchanging fire with the bandits near Sulare island, leading to the Abu Sayyaf members' deaths and the sinking of their speedboat.
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Courtesy of JTF Sulu
The Abu Sayyaf members were reportedly under Mundi Sawadjaan and Radullan Sahiron, Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, Jr. said in a statement earlier.
Sawadjaan is the alleged mastermind of the twin bombings in Jolo town last August that killed 17 people, including two suspected suicide bombers, and injured over 70 others.
Security forces have retrieved the sunken speedboat and recovered several weapons, but the bodies of the slain militants have yet to be found, the Philippine Navy said.
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