AT least 10 people were killed when militants linked to the Abu Sayyaf terror group struck a military checkpoint with a car bomb in the southern Philippines yesterday, officials said.

Philippines Army Lieutenant Colonel Jonas Templo said an improvised explosive was detonated in the early hours of the morning, in the Sitio Maganda neighborhood of Lamitan, a city in Basilan province.

Basilan Governor Jim Salliman said at least five others were wounded by the attack, which used a van and targeted a checkpoint manned by a Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) — a paramilitary contingent, which included military and civilians.

Salliman said the Armed Forces of the Philippines told him Abu Sayyaf was responsible for the blast.

Mindanao — the Philippines’ southernmost major island, on which Basilan sits — is home to several Islamist insurgent groups, including Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for a number of attacks on civilians and Philippine Government troops, as well as the kidnapping of several foreign nationals.

Abu Sayyaf — alongside the Maute group, another Mindanao-based terror organization — was responsible for the invasion and occupation of Marawi, the country’s biggest Muslim-majority city, in 2016.

Abu Sayyaf Basilan was led by militant Isnilon Hapilon until his death in the siege of Marawi. The group pledged allegiance to IS in 2014.

The attack comes soon after Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte approved the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), creating an autonomous region in majority-Muslim areas of Mindanao.

(SD-Agencies)