MANILA, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Philippine security forces have killed the alleged liaison of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to the Abu Sayyaf militants operating in the remote island provinces in southern Philippines, the military confirmed on Saturday.
The military's Joint Task Force Sulu (JTFS) identified the slain ISIS militant as Talha Jumsah, also was known as Abu Talha. He was reportedly killed during a clash at around 7:15 a.m. local time on Friday.
The military said Abu Talha's body was recovered about 800 meters away from the encounter site during the follow-up military operations on Saturday morning.
"Abu Talha is a high-value target of the AFP (the Armed Forces of the Philippines) in Sulu. Accordingly, he is an ISIS-trained improvised explosive device (IED) expert who served as an instructor to the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the fabrication of more lethal and destructive IEDs that caused tremendous casualties during the suicide bombings in Sulu," the military said.
Three of the four deadly suicide attacks in southern Philippines this year took place in Sulu.
The military added Abu Talha "also served as the finance conduit and liaison between foreign and local terrorist communication lines."
Brigadier General Antonio Nafarrete, the brigade commander of the Army's 1101st Brigade, cited the help of the local community in neutralizing Abu Talha.
Nafarrete said Abu Talha's death "will surely cause demoralization in the ASG ranks in Sulu."
Philippine security forces have intensified their offensive against the Abu Sayyaf militants as the military attempts to crush the group by December this year.
A "substantial" number of troops, and air and naval assets have been deployed in Sulu over the past months to crush the Abu Sayyaf, a terror group responsible for a series of deadly bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in southern Philippines.
The Abu Sayyaf militants operate in the waters off the west coast of Mindanao island in southern Philippines but has also conducted cross-border operations into eastern Malaysia.
The group preys on foreign tourists, businessmen and fishermen not only from the Philippines but also from Indonesia and Malaysia and hide them in Philippine jungles or remote islands.
