MANILA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Friday that troops killed at least 20 Abu Sayyaf militants on Thursday in Basilan, a southern island in the Philippines.
The military said in a statement that the operations featured the Philippine Air Force's FA-50 fighter jets that dropped bombs on the lair of Abu Sayyaf leader Furuji Indama in Basilan before dawn on Thursday.
"Heavy bloodstains were found in the vicinity, with intelligence reports rounding no less than 20 ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) fatalities from the combined airstrikes and indirect fires," said the military statement.
Two soldiers are also wounded by the improvised explosive device detonated by the militants, the military statement added.
Lt. Col. Andrew Bacala, commander of the 4th Special Forces Battalion, said the troops were able to "inch within a hundred meters of the enemy under the cover of darkness" through the use of "night fighting capabilities."
Finally, he said the troop managed to seize the makeshift bandits' camp around 10 a.m. local time.
Bacala said the troops also recovered three live IEDs and several explosive components.
