Philippine army promises 'massive' operation against terrorists after hostages rescued

The Abu Sayyaf terrorist group is now thought to number fewer than 80 members

Philippine soldiers, wounded in an ongoing clash with Islamist militants from the Abu Sayyaf group, arrive at a military hospital in Jolo, Sulu province, on the southern island of Mindanao on March 3, 2017, hours prior to the arrival of President Rodrigo Duterte. - Philippine soldiers clashed anew on March 3 with Islamist militants behind the beheading of a German hostage. The Abu Sayyaf, a kidnap-for-ransom network in the southern Philippines that has declared allegiance to the Islamic State group, killed Jurgen Kantner, 70, on February 26 after its demands for 30 million pesos ($600,000) were not met. (Photo by NICKEE BUTLANGAN / AFP)

Filipino soldiers collect confiscated firearms from killed Abu Sayyaf members in the Philippine town of Ibanga on April 12, 2017.

Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya, right foreground, is seen with his band of armed extremists. Philippine troops captured an Abu Sayyaf rebel commander blamed for years of ransom kidnappings. AP Photo

Philippine soldiers walk along a highway as they return to camp after an armed encouter with members of militant group Abu Sayyaf at the village of Bongkaong, Patikul town, Sulu province on the southern island of Mindanao on August 26, 2016. - Philippine security officials killed six members of militant group Abu Sayyaf on August 26 including one involved in the kidnapping of two Canadians who were beheaded in the troubled south, the military said. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP)

This photo taken on September 5, 2016, Philippine soldiers standing guard next to an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC), inside a military camp in Jolo, Sulu province, in southern island of Mindanao, as they prepare for an operation against the extremist Abu Sayyaf group. - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to cannibalise and "devour" Abu Sayyaf Islamist militants who allegedly bombed his home city last weekend, killing at least 14 people and leaving dozens injured. (Photo by MARK NAVALES / AFP)

In this photo taken on August 30, 2016, Philippine soldiers firing howitzer cannons into Muslim extremist group Abu sayyaf's position in Jolo, Sulu province, in southern island of Mindanao, as troops carried out President Rodrigo Duterte's orders to "destroy" the militants. - Duterte tagged on September 3, the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic militant group from the southern Philippines notorious for kidnappings, as a possible suspect in a deadly blast in his home town of Davao. (Photo by MARK NAVALES / AFP)

Philippine marines aboard an Amored Personnel Carrier (APC) and a truck guard a highway in Indanan town, Sulu province on the southern island of Mindanao on February 27, 2017, after reports of the beheading of German national Jurgen Kantner by the Abu Sayyaf group. - Islamic militants in the Philippines have beheaded the German hostage they were holding for ransom, the government in Manila said February 27. (Photo by NICKEE BUTLANGAN / AFP)

Philippine troops killed an Abu Sayyaf rebel commander who was blamed for years of ransom kidnappings and on Sunday rescued the last of his four Indonesian captives, the military said.

Marines wounded Amajan Sahidjuan in a gun battle on Saturday night and he later died from blood loss on Kalupag Island in southern Tawi Tawi province.

Two other militants managed to flee and dragged along the last of four Indonesian hostages, but troops rescued him on Sunday, regional military commander Lt Gen Corleto Vinluan Jr said.

On Thursday night, three Indonesian men were rescued by police who also captured one of their Abu Sayyaf captors along the shores of South Ubian town in Tawi Tawi.

The military said the Abu Sayyaf militants led by Sahidjuan were fleeing assaults in nearby Sulu province when their speedboat was lashed by huge waves and overturned off Tawi Tawi.

A military officer said the militants were attempting to cross the sea border to Tambisan Island in neighbouring Malaysia's Sabah state to release the captives in exchange for a ransom of at least five million pesos ($104,000), but the Philippine military learned of the plan and staged covert assaults.

The officer, who said he has been heavily involved in anti-Abu Sayyaf operations, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Lt Gen Vinluan said the rescue of the Indonesian men, the last known hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf, would allow government forces to finish off the ransom-seeking rebels.

"It will just be relentless in a massive and focused military operation because, now, we would not worry about kidnap victims getting hit," Lt Gen Vinluan said.

He said there were about 80 Abu Sayyaf gunmen left in Sulu and outlying island provinces. One of their remaining elderly leaders, Radulan Sahiron, has fallen ill and was wounded in a recent offensive in Sulu, he said.

Sahidjuan, who uses the nom de guerre Apuh Mike, has been blamed for ransom kidnappings since the early 1990s.

He was reportedly among Abu Sayyaf militants who attacked the southern and largely Christian town of Ipil in 1995, where they killed more than 50 people after robbing banks and stores and burnt the town centre.

Abu Sayyaf is a small but violent group that has been separately blacklisted by the Philippines and the US as a terrorist organisation for bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings. Some of its factions have aligned themselves with ISIS.

The militants have been considerably weakened by years of military offensives, surrenders and battle setbacks but remain a national security threat.

They set off a security alarm in the region in recent years after they started venturing away from their jungle encampments in Sulu, an impoverished Muslim province in the largely Roman Catholic nation, and staged kidnappings in Malaysian coastal towns and targeted crews of cargo ships.