Philippine troops have killed at least 10 militants in two days of ground and air offensives against their hideouts in a southern province, an army spokesman said Saturday.
A local bomber and a foreign leader of the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah were believed to have been among those killed in the operation, but their identities were still being confirmed, according to army Captain Arvin Encinas.
Troops swooped down on the hideouts belonging to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in two villages in the province of Maguindanao, 960 kilometres south of Manila, he said.
The military also launched air strikes to support the ground operation, he added.
Troops recovered and disabled five homemade bombs from the abandoned encampments of the militants, Encinas said.
The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters is a breakaway of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Muslim rebel group, which signed a peace agreement with the government in 2014.
The faction opposed the peace agreement, which aims to create a new autonomous Muslim entity in the southern region of Mindanao, and is suspected to have linked up with local and foreign terrorist groups.
