2 Americans suspected of being ‘terror-groomed’ are among 19 killed in Filipino raid: gov’t

Two Americans suspected of being “terror-groomed” by leftist rebels were among 19 people killed during a raid on a militant communist hideout in the Philippines last week, according to reports.

Americans Lyle Prijoles and Kai Dana-Rene Sorem, 26, were reportedly part of a cell of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Toboso and were killed when troops from the Filipino military descended on their hideout April 19, according to the Filipino government.

Gunfire broke out between the military and the rebel group — designated a terror organization by the United States and other countries — resulting in the casualties, numerous people being taken prisoner and about 24 guns recovered from the scene.

The two slain Americans are believed to have traveled to the Philippines in March and may have fallen victim to a recruitment process the Asian island nation’s Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict called “terror-grooming” while announcing the incident Saturday.

“These facts point to a disturbing convergence: foreign nationals in a live combat setting, where the risks are immediate and the consequences irreversible,” said Filipino Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., who leads the campaign to fight the NPA in the country.

“The presence of two American fatalities in a single encounter should prompt careful reflection on how involvement in certain activities or networks may lead to unintended exposure to dangerous environments,” he said.

“Our thoughts are with their families, who now face the burden of loss under circumstances that unfolded far from their homes,” Torres added.

The radical “anti-fascist’’ Malaya Movement said on its Web site that Prijoles “was a Filipino American born in San Diego and community organizer in the Bay Area.

“Lyle gave back to the Filipino American community through his love for his family, his activism as a student, his involvement in the arts and cultural work, and his human rights advocacy,” it said of the man, who some outlets reported was 40 years old.

Sorem was from Steilacoom, Wash., and became involved in the progressive Filipino group Anakbayan before going to the Philippines to help rural communities, the organization said.

“As a musician, Kai used her formal education with her love for her community and the Philippines,” the group said.

“In 2026, she returned to the Philippines to deepen her knowledge of her country and culture through learning the language and serving peasant farming communities.”

The firefight was just the latest clash with the NPA, a militant communist group which has been active in the Philippines for nearly 60 years.

The guerilla group numbered 25,000 at its heights but has been reduced to fewer than 900 in recent years.

The latest incident broke out after military troops were called to a small village where locals reported rebels and a wanted commander — with a $16,000 bounty on his head — were hiding.

Just one soldier was injured during the shootout.

Some critics raised the alarm about the number of casualties and called for an investigation into the altercation — prompting the Filipino military to call the incident “a legitimate armed encounter, not a massacre.”

With Post wires