Militants attack in the Philippines

In the Philippines’ Central Visayas region, four Filipino security officers were killed during fighting with militants on the popular tourist resort island of Bohol on April 11. Five militants were also killed. The gunmen had gone upriver in three fast boats to a remote village near Inabanga, and the officers showed up to investigate.

The Islamist militant group Abu Sayyaf, an ally of Daesh, is suspected of perpetrating the attack. Abu Sayyaf operates out of the island of Mindanao, the country’s southernmost major island. Bohol is just north of Mindanao.

Two days before the attack, the US Embassy in the Philippines released a notice for US citizens warning that credible information had been received that terrorist groups were planning to kidnap tourists in the Central Visayas island group, where Bohol is located.