Duterte warns Islamists again: 'I'll eat you alive – just give me vinegar and salt'

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has yet again issued a grim warning to Islamists saying he would eat them alive. He said: "Just give me vinegar and salt, I'll eat you. That's true, and I'll eat his liver."

This is not the first time Duterte has made such comments. In September 2016, he issued a similar warning to the Islamist group Abu Sayyaf.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a sports event in Antique province, he said: "Do not sleep. Kill them. I want them dead. Do not deliver them to me alive."

He added: "The terrorists cut other people's throat, slit it. They are animals. If you want me to be an animal, I am used to that. We are alike. I can dish out more than what you can 50 times over."

Duterte's comments come just after it emerged that Abu Sayyaf, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State (Isis), decapitated a Filipino soldier. Military authorities said the soldier's body and head were found near the village of Taglibis in Upper Patikul in Sulu province.

Brigadier General Cirilito Sobejana told a local news outlet that the sergeant's body had started decomposing indicating that the captive must have been killed a few days ago.

Duterte's administration has been waging a relentless war against the drug trade and religious extremists, particularly Abu Sayyaf. In the past few weeks, the military has launched several counter-terror raids to stamp out the Islamists.