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The Philippines military on Thursday said that it killed three senior al-Qaeda affiliated militants during an airstrike in the southern portion of the country, according to media reports.
In the air raid, the military said, 12 followers of the three militants were also killed, reported the Philippine Star newspaper. “This is a deliberate, fully planned attack coming from our forces,” said Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command chief, Maj. Gen. Noel Coballes, who added that the followers have not yet been identified.
Another official said there was no resistance during the 3 a.m. airstrike, suggesting that the militants may have been sleeping. The attack will likely have a “very big impact on the capability of the terrorists,” Coballes added, reported the Star.
Coballes told the Manila Bulletin that the military did not deploy ground forces because they did not want to disturb the nearby community of Moro National Liberation Front militia and their families.
“We don’t want to have dispute with them, (we did not use ground forces) because they may think that they are the target of the operation,” Coballes told the Bulletin.
In 2007, the U.S. government offered a $5 million reward for the capture of one of the killed militants, Zulkifli bin Abdul Hir, who was accused of being behind several bomb attacks in the Philippines. Abdul Hir and the two other men were considered among the most-wanted in Southeast Asia.
The military said the other dead militants are Abu Pula, also known as Dr. Abu, and Umbra Jumdail, who is a leader in the Abu Sayyaf organization. The Abu Sayyaf is accused of carrying out some of the worst attacks in the Philippines, including the ferry bombing that killed more than 100 people in 2004.