ZAMBOANGA CITY – Two Abu Sayyaf fighters were killed and three soldiers were wounded in a clash in the southern Philippine province of Sulu where security forces were battling pro-IS militants since March, officials said on Tuesday.

One of those killed, known only by his alias Barak Ingog, allegedly helped carry out twin suicide attacks by an Indonesian couple at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in the capital town of Jolo in January that killed 20 people and wounded dozens of people, mostly civilians and soldiers, said Col. Gerry Besana, spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom).