The Philippine military scored a major win early this month with an airstrike coordinated with the United States on a training camp that killed three of Southeast Asia's most-wanted terrorist leaders in the southern Philippines. The success of this strike against such high profile targets is a major setback to terrorist activity in the Philippines but does not mark the defeat of these groups.

Since the attack on the terrorist camp, almost 5,000 troops have been dispatched to search for Dutch and Swiss citizens kidnapped around the time of the airstrike. Kidnappings-for-ransom in the southern Philippines have become an integral part of Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf Group’s (ASG) modus operandi.