Majan Sahidjuan, alias Apo Mike, was seriously injured in a fight with Marines on Saturday night in the languyan town of southern Tawi-Tawi province and died later, Lieutenant General Corleto Vinluan Jr. said.
He described Sahidjuan as the mastermind in several abductions by Abu Sayyaf, based in Sulu and also involved in bombings and piracy for decades. Since 2014, he has proclaimed loyalty to the Islamic State group.
“We are happy that all the hostages are safe now and we can also neutralize the notorious ‘Apo Mike’ and two of his comrades,” said Vinluan, commander of the army’s Western Mindanao Command.
Sahidjuan was among the five Abu Sayyaf militants who went to Tawi-Tawi by boat from Sulu with the four victims of their Indonesian kidnappers last Thursday.
Their boat capsized after being hit by big waves, giving government troops a chance to save three of the four hostages – Arizal Kasta Miran, 30; Arsad Bin Dahlan, 41; and Andi Riswanto, 26.
The fourth, 15-year-old Mohd Khairuldin, was found by government troops in the same village where the fighting took place.
The four hostages were among five Indonesians abducted by Abu Sayyaf on January 17 last year, near Tambisan, Malaysia. One of the five was killed while trying to escape.