FT Chronicle

Albader Parad, one of the Philippines’s most wanted Abu Sayyaf leaders, has been confirmed killed in fighting with the military in the country’s south.

A local official has confirmed that Parad was among six Abu Sayyaf fighters killed on Sunday in an encounter with a unit of Philippine marines in Maimbung town on Jolo island, 1,000km south of Manila.

Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad was wanted for the abduction of three Red Cross workers on the island last year.

Gen Benjamin Dolorfino said his death was a “big blow” to the group.

Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for bombings, beheadings and kidnappings of Filipinos and foreigners. It has been accused of links with al-Qaeda.

One marine was killed and three were wounded during the assault.

Abu Sayyaf is the smallest and most radical of the Islamic separatist groups in the southern Philippines.