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Report: 70-year-old fights Abu Sayyaf member hand to hand, assisting in terrorist's death
Filipino armed forces have finally rid the providence of Bohol of Abu Sayyaf members after assistance from a 70-year-old man who engaged one of the terrorists in hand-to-hand combat. (Getty Images)

Report: 70-year-old fights Abu Sayyaf member hand to hand, assisting in terrorist's death

A 70-year-old Filipino grandfather in the Bohol province of the Philippines reportedly engaged an ISIS-linked terrorist with a bolo knife, waylaying him in hand-to-hand combat until the Armed Forces of the Philippines arrived and shot the Abu Sayyaf member dead.

According to the government-run Philippine News Agency, Lolo Peryong was cleaning his back yard May 15 when Abu Ubayda, one of the last members of an 11-man cell of the Abu Sayyaf Group, a Filipino terrorist group that is loyal to ISIS, intruded onto Peryong's property.

Ubayda and 10 other members of Abu Sayyaf had clandestinely entered Bohol last month to conduct terrorist operations within the province, specifically kidnapping, according to intelligence officer Capt. Jojo Mascariňas of the AFP.

The PNA report said that, while neighbors fled upon Ubayda's arrival, Peryong took up his bolo and charged Ubayda. Not suspecting to be attacked by an elderly man, Ubayda was caught off guard. The outlet also said that "for one reason or another" Ubayda did not fire his M-16 rifle at Peryong and was forced instead to the weapon to parry Peryong's bolo.

Ubayda reportedly managed to seize Peryong's bolo and stab the 70-year-old with it before hitting him with the butt of his gun. By that time, AFP forces arrived and shot the terrorist dead.

The Philippine News Agency reported that Peryong's wounds were not fatal and that he was being treated at a hospital.

The Bohol Chronicle reports the final member of the 11-man Abu Sayyaf cell, Abu Asis, was shot dead six hours after Ubayda's death. According to the Chronicle, Asis was brought down in a similar manner to Ubayda, with Bohol Special Weapons and Tactics operatives shooting Asis dead after Bohol citizen Crisanto Bancore found the terrorist and engaged him in hand-to-hand combat.

With Ubayda's and Asis' death, Brig. Gen. Arnulfo Matanguihan, commander of the 302nd Infantry of the Philippine Army, declared Bohol clear of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.

Abu Sayyaf, or "Bearers of the Sword," is considered to be one of the Southeast Asia’s most brutal Islamic militant groups. The group had once belonged to Al Qaeda but now pledges allegiance to ISIS. Abu Sayyaf is known to engage in the kidnapping of foreigners for ransom and beheading some if the ransom is not paid.

Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded a 70-year-old German yachtsman named Juergen Kantner in February after Germany refused to pay $600,000 for his ransom. According to the Telegraph, Kantner was kidnapped in November from his yacht off the southern Phillippines, while his wife Sabine Merz, 59, was shot and killed after she fought back.

Two Canadians were beheaded by Abu Sayyaf in 2016 after a ransom deadline had passed. Abu Sayyaf militants demanded $6.5 million by April 25 from the Filipino government, but the government refused in accordance with its no-ransom policy. Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall, both kidnapped from Oceanview Resort on Samal Island in September 2015, were beheaded in April 2016 and June 2016 respectively.

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