MANILA, Philippines, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The Philippine military says it has killed another leader of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf Group.
Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, head of the Armed Forces Western Minanao Command, said Albader Parad was killed in fighting earlier this week between terrorists and army rangers in an area of Sulu known as Indanan.
Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffy Janjalani and Jainal Antel Sali Jr., an ASG commander, had been killed earlier, according to the report in Wednesday's edition of The Philippine Star.
"The (army's) operations continue to comply and meet the deadline to finish the Abu Sayyaf and JI bombers who are still hiding in Sulu," Cedo said while visiting wounded soldiers at a hospital.
Abu Sayyaf is connected to al-Qaida, which committed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. It has been implicated in a number of bombings in the country but is based in the southern Philippines, where the government is also battling Muslim separatists and communist guerrillas.
JI, or Jemaah Islamiya, is an Indonesian terror group also linked to al-Qaida and believed responsible for a number of bombings, including tourist venues on the Indonesian island of Bali that killed more than 200 people. Several suspects in those attacks are said to be traveling with the ASG as they hide from Indonesian authorities.
The Philippine military has vowed to destroy Abu Sayyaf and has waged an offensive against them in the southern Philippines since late last year.
