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AFP
Manila
Islamic militants who landed on a Philippine tourist island triggering deadly clashes with security forces had planned to stage a mass kidnapping, the military said on Wednesday as it pursued five fighters still on the loose.
The army said the Abu Sayyaf group, notorious for a kidnap-for-ransom spree that has targeted foreigners, had planned to snatch up to a dozen tourists around Easter Sunday when resorts are packed.
The group of 11 gunmen landed by boat on Bohol -- one of the country's top tourism spots -- sparking a gunbattle with security forces on Tuesday that left six insurgents dead and also killed three soldiers and a policeman.
Five Abu Sayyaf gunmen, along with an unknown number of local collaborators, remain at large after the clashes which took place in a rural district, said military chief of staff General Eduardo Ano.
Ano said the gang, which arrived on three boats, had planned to acclimatise in the area and send scouts into resorts to scope out kidnapping targets.
"They are expecting probably to kidnap four or five persons per boat, so at least 10 to 12 kidnap victims was their (overall) plan," he said.
The Abu Sayyaf launched the strike from their remote stronghold on the lawless southern Philippines island of Jolo, which is about 500 kilometres (300 miles) away from Bohol.
The island is just half an hour's boat ride from Cebu, another major tourism draw. The incursion is the first on a major destination in recent years by the group, which pledges allegiance to the Islamic State.
Ano said the Bohol plan was put into motion late last week as millions of local and foreign tourists prepared to hit the country's beaches ahead of the Easter holidays.
Philippine intelligence agencies got wind of the plot last week, and alerted the military and foreign counterpart agencies, though authorities lost track of the gunmen in the open seas.
The US and Australian governments later warned their citizens about possible"terrorist" abductions in Bohol and Cebu.
Ano said the five remaining fighters fled after an overnight siege near a remote village.
"They are all running for their lives," he said.
Helicopter gunships were used to bomb the militants, who fought back with high-end sniper rifles while holed up in a concrete house, according to officials.
Authorities in Cebu, an island of nearly five million people, warned their citizens about potential kidnapping raids following the Bohol attack.
"It is unlikely that they have the operational capability to do further damage now. However, other elements may exist," Cebu city Mayor Tomas Osmena said on his Facebook page.
As the government moved to contain the fallout on the lucrative tourism industry, the military said it would repel similar incursions.
