MANILA, Philippines: Philippine marines have killed two brothers who allegedly belonged to the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group and were accused of kidnappings and the killing of a photojournalist, military officials said Thursday.
Troops killed Itting Sailani in a clash Tuesday in the hinterlands near Sumisip town on southern Basilan island and then fatally shot his brother, Anni, in an operation the following day, marine Col. Ramiro Alivio said.
Villagers informed the military of the presence of armed men in mountainous Sumisip, once a prominent Abu Sayyaf stronghold, prompting them to deploy a marine unit, Alivio said. The marines stumbled on Itting's group, sparking a brief clash that killed him.
The government has offered a reward of 3 million pesos (US$65,200; €48,558.87) for information that would lead to the capture or killing of each of the Sailani brothers. It was not immediately clear whether villagers who reported the presence of the gunmen to troops could get the rewards, according to police.
The brothers have been linked to a number of ransom kidnappings and the 2004 killing of photojournalist Gene Boyd Lumawag on nearby Jolo island.Lumawag was walking to film the sunset at a Jolo pier when he was fatally shot in the back of the head.
The Abu Sayyaf was founded on Basilan, an impoverished predominantly Muslim island, in the late 1980s, but most of its leaders and members were captured, killed or fled during massive offensives that started in early 2000.
Abu Sayyaf commanders led by Khaddafy Janjalani hid in nearby provinces and then eventually settled on Jolo, where Janjalani was killed in a clash with marines last September. His presumed successor, Jainal Antel Sali or Abu Sulaiman, was killed by troops on Jolo in January.
U.S.-backed Philippine troops have continued to hunt several Abu Sayyaf commanders, including two top Indonesian terror suspects in the deadly 2002 Bali nightclub bombings in Indonesia.
The military has deployed additional troops in Basilan in recent months because of intelligence reports that Abu Sayyaf militants might slip back to escape offensives on Jolo.
