One of the six Vietnamese sailors taken hostage by the Islamist Abu Sayyaf group in February has been killed during a raid by Filipino troops over the weekend.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the body of Tran Viet Van was discovered among several corpses following a raid on the Abu Sayyaf group in the Filipino island province of Sulu.

Van had been held for five months by the militants.

It is not yet clear whether Van was killed by members of Abu Sayyaf or by the Filipino military during the chaos of the raid.

Last week, two of the other Vietnamese sailors were found beheaded after the militant group’s ransom demands were not met.

According to the Filipino military, Abu Sayyaf is still holding 21 hostages in total, including 15 foreigners.

In February this year, the group beheaded a 70-year-old German after its demands for over half a million US dollars was not paid.