2017 Bohol Clashes
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 2017 Bohol clashes were armed conflicts that took place in April and May 2017 between Philippine security forces and Moro
ISIL The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...
-affiliated militants led by members of the
Abu Sayyaf Abu Sayyaf (; , ASG), officially known by the Islamic State as the Islamic State – East Asia Province, was a Jihadist militant and piracy, pirate group that followed the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam. It was based in and around Jolo and B ...
in Inabanga, Bohol,
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. Three
Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) () is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. , it had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers The service branch was established on December ...
soldiers, a policeman, four terrorists and two civilians were killed during the initial firefight. Subsequent firefights between the remaining militants and security forces resulted in the deaths of all the Abu Sayyaf insurgents. A ranking officer of the
Philippine National Police The Philippine National Police (PNP; ) is the national police force of the Philippines. Its national headquarters is located at Camp Crame in Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Quezon City. Currently, it has approximately 228,000 personnel to police a pop ...
linked to Abu Sayyaf attempted to rescue some of the insurgents but was arrested. The clashes marked the first recorded operation of the Abu Sayyaf group in the
Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...
region of the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, far from their strongholds in the
Sulu Archipelago The Sulu Archipelago ( Tausug: Kapū'-pūan sin Sūg Sulat Sūg: , ) is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the southwestern Philippines. The archipelago forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea and southern limit of the Sulu Se ...
.


Background

Five days before the initial incident, the
Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) () are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Philippine Army, Army, the Philippine Air Force, Air Force, and the Philippine Navy, Navy (including the P ...
had detected the departure of a group of Abu Sayyaf from Indanan, Sulu bound for the
Central Visayas Central Visayas (; or ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VII. With only two Provinces of the Philippines, provinces: Cebu and Bohol, as well as three Cities of the Phi ...
. On April 9, 2017, the
US Embassy The United States has the second largest number of active diplomatic posts of any country in the world after the People's Republic of China, including 272 bilateral posts (embassies and consulates) in 174 countries, as well as 11 permanent miss ...
in
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
issued a
travel warning A travel warning, travel alert, or travel advisory is an official warning statement issued by government agencies to provide information about the relative safety of travelling to or visiting one or more specific foreign countries or destinations ...
based on "credible" reports of kidnapping threats. A day before the first firefight, the AFP received reports of the presence of eleven armed men in three
pump boat A pump boat (usually Language change, variation as ''pambot'' in local languages) is an outrigger canoe (') native to Southeast Asia powered by a small gasoline or diesel engine. Smaller pump boats might be powered by the sort of small single-cyl ...
s entering the
Inabanga River The Inabanga River is the largest river in Bohol, Philippines. It is long and up to deep at its mouth at the town of Inabanga. Its name means "Rented River", from the root word ''abang'' which means "rent". Due to drownings and attacks by cr ...
in
Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol (; ), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It is home to Bohola ...
.


The initial clash

A firefight between a joint
Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) () is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. , it had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers The service branch was established on December ...
and police force and the Abu Sayyaf began at approximately 5:00 in the morning of April 11, 2017, in
Barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...
Napo in the town of Inabanga. A
Philippine Air Force The Philippine Air Force (PAF) () is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Initially formed as part of the Philippine Army as the Philippine Army Air Corps (PAAC) in 1935, the PAAC eventually saw combat ...
plane conducted
airstrike An airstrike, air strike, or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, and drones. The official d ...
s against the Abu Sayyaf, while a
Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) () is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an estimated strength of 24,500 active service personnel, including the 10,300-strong Philippine Marine Corps. It operates 91 combat ...
gunboat was deployed to block possible escape routes by sea. Three Philippine Army troopers, a policeman, two civilians and four Abu Sayyaf members were killed in the clash. Reports indicated that three extremist groups that have pledged allegiance to ISIL participated in the Bohol attack: a hard-line Abu Sayyaf faction known as the Marakat Ansar Battalion (called the Marakah al Ansar Battalion by another source), the Maute group and Ansar Khalifa Philippines.


Aftermath

A day after the firefight, the body of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Muamar Askali, also known as Abu Rami, was recovered from the scene of the clash. Askali was implicated in the beheading of two Canadian hostages,
John Ridsdel John Bramwell Ridsdel (9 September 1947 – 25 April 2016) was an English-born Canadian businessman from Calgary, Alberta; kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the Philippines on 21 September 2015, and beheaded on 25 April 2016. Early life an ...
and Robert Hall in 2016, and German tourist Jürgen Kantner in February 2017. On April 13, two days after the clash, another Abu Sayyaf fatality was recovered by security forces after being buried by his companions in Barangay Lonoy Cainsican in Inabanga. Two civilians killed in the firefight were initially tagged as Abu Sayyaf casualties. Government troops recovered M16 and M4 rifles, and bomb-making paraphernalia from the scene of the clash. The Armed Forces of the Philippines and civil authorities declared Bohol "cleared" a day after the firefight.


Subsequent clashes

On April 22, 2017, four more Abu Sayyaf militants were killed during firefights in Bohol, including sub-leader and guide Joselito Melloria, also known as Abu Alih. Two weeks later, the AFP announced the arrest of Abu Saad, one of the three remaining Abu Sayyaf members who had evaded capture. A day later, Abu Saad was reported killed after attempting to escape while in police custody. The last two militants were finally located after they took a local resident hostage and were killed in a firefight against security forces on May 15, 2017. On the evening of April 22, 2017, Police Supt. Maria Christina Nobleza, the deputy regional chief of the crime laboratory in the
Davao Region Davao Region, formerly called Southern Mindanao (; ), is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region XI. Situated at the southeastern portion of Mindanao, enclosing Davao Gulf, it comprises fiv ...
, and her alleged lover, Reenor Lou Dungon, were arrested in a military checkpoint in Barangay Bacani, Clarin, Bohol. The two, authorities stated, were planning to rescue the remaining Abu Sayyaf members who were being hunted down by government troops. Dungon is said to be the brother-in-law of slain Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Solaiman.


See also

* Marawi crisis


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bohol clash, 2017 2017 in the Philippines Battles involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Military operations of the Moro conflict Conflicts in 2017 History of Bohol April 2017 in the Philippines