The BBC reports:

The armed forces in the Philippines say they have killed one of the five leading members of the Abu Sayyaf – an armed group of Filipino Muslims notorious for kidnapping hostages.

The army says the man, Hamsiraji Sali, was killed during an exchange of fire with an elite unit who cornered him in a village on the southern island of Basilan.

I haven’t heard this man’s name before; he must have replaced some of the other higher ops that have bought the farm in the past. Good. And though I am doing the “despicable” act of rejoicing at someone else’s death, I’d rather do this than mourn at the deaths of those that Sali would have taken had he been allowed to live.

[Hat tip: Willie Galang, at the Command Post]