BASILAN Island (Hader Glang) Abu Sayyaf gunmen killed two pro-government militias in an ambush in the southern Philippine island of Basilan, officials said Friday.
Officials said the attack occured in Tuburan town, a known lair of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, on Wednesday.
Basilan military chief Brig. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer said the victims were on their way to the market when gunmen attacked them with automatic weapons.
"The victims died instantly," he said.
Latest military report tagged Abu Sayyaf leader Panjang as behind the ambush. The motive of the attack is still unknown, but Ferrer said security forces were tracking down Panjang's group.
The Southern Command in Zamboanga City identified the victims as Aham Sali and Dams Arasalon.
The United States listed the group as a foreign terrorist organization and offered as much as $5 million bounty for each of the known leaders of the Abu Sayyaf.
Manila also offered about P100 million for the capture dead or alive of Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and his lieutenants.
Filipino authorities blamed the Abu Sayyaf as behind the spate of kidnappings and bombings in the country.
In April 2000, it kidnapped 21 mostly Western tourists and Asian citizens in a daring cross-border raid into Sabah in Malaysia and brought them by boat to Jolo island. Most of the hostages were later freed in exchange for huge ransom paid by Libyan and Malaysian negotiators.
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