Six members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) have been killed following military raids on different areas in Sulu this weekend.
In a statement from Western Mindanao Command on Sunday, two separate encounters erupted in Patikul and Indanan.
An Abu Sayyaf Group member died in an encounter in Sitio Itum, Brgy Kabbun Takas in Patikul, Sulu at 2:40 pm, Saturday.
This was followed by another encounter at 3:30 pm, Sunday afternoon at Sitio Huton Mahablo, Brgy. Silangkan in Indanan, where five ASG members were killed.
Among those killed in the second encounter were two sub-leaders of the ASG.
Five soldiers from the 32nd Infantry Battalion were wounded in the first encounter while two Special Forces personnel sustained injuries in the second encounter.
According to WestMinCom commander Lieutenant General Cirilito E. Sobejana, military operations are part of the effort to rescue ASG captives, including a British national and a Pinay wife.
Last month, a British man and his Filipino wife in Tukuran, Zamboanga del Sur.
Four armed men abducted the couple Allan Arthur Hyrons, 70, and his wife, Welma Paglinawan, at the resort they owned in Tukuran, Zamboanga del Sur, on October 4.
Zamboanga del Sur provincial government increased the reward money from P1M to P2-million for anyone who could give information on the kidnappers of British national and his Filipino wife.
Police already released three facial composite sketches captured by CCTV.