The Philippines military on Thursday announced the killings of three top leaders of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah in a military operation carried out in the country's south.
Military spokesman Col. Marcelo Burgos told reporters that the military operation in the town of Parang on Jolo Island early Thursday was a combined effort involving the country's Army, Air Force and Navy.
He identified the three militants killed in the operation as Abu Sayyaf leader Umbra Jumdail and senior Jemaah Islamiyah activists Zulkipli Bin Abdul Hir and Abdullah Ali. While Jumdail, also known as Doc Abu, was a Filipino, the other two were foreign nationals.
Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan, was from Malaysia. The United States had offered a $5 million reward for the killing or capture of Marwan, who was among Southeast Asia's most wanted terror suspects.
Abdullah Ali, who uses the guerrilla name Muawiyah, was a Singaporean and carried a U.S. reward of $50,000 for information leading to his killing or capture.
Both Marwan and Muawiyah were leaders of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, mainly based in Indonesia. They had escaped authorities in their own countries and were among dozens of Jemaah Islamiyah militants who arrived in Philippines after the Abu Sayyaf group offered them refuge in its strongholds of Jolo and Basilan.
The Abu Sayyaf group was founded in the 1990s and later emerged as one of the most brutal and radical militant groups in southern Philippines. The Islamist militant group has been blamed in the recent past for a number of attacks on security installations in southern Philippines as well as kidnapping of Christian missionaries and foreigners for ransom.
The al-Qaeda affiliated group has, however, weakened considerably in recent years due to joint military operations by the Philippines and the United States, which considers Abu Sayyaf to be a terror outfit. It is believed that the group now has only about 400 active members.
But Abu Sayyaf group remained active in southern Philippines, coordinating its activities with a breakaway faction of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group in Philippines.
The MILF has been fighting for a Muslim State in Mindanao region since its founding in 1970s. But it signed a peace accord with the Manila government in 1996 after dropping its secessionist bid and agreeing to limited autonomy in the south.
It is estimated that fighting between the MILF rebels and government forces had killed over 300 civilians and displaced thousands in the country's south until the peace deal was reached. The group is presently engaged in peace talks with the government and denies any links with Abu Sayyaf.
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