Philippines: 2 militant-linked kidnap gang leaders dead

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines

The Philippines’ military said Tuesday that two brothers believed to have been responsible for the abduction of Indonesian and Malaysian sailors as part of kidnap-for-ransom activities with a militant group have been killed.

Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., Western Mindanao Command spokesman, said in a statement that Nixon Muktadil and his brother Brown were killed during ongoing operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Tambulian village in the troubled southern island province of Sulu.

"Elements of Joint Task Force Sulu together with concerned citizens of Panglima Estino, Sulu conducted strike operations against Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom gang members which resulted to the death of 'Muktadil brothers',” Tan said.

"They were involved in a series of kidnappings of twenty-six Indonesians and Malaysians at the high seas of the boundaries of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines," he added.

The Muktadil brothers were known for turning their captives over to the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu in exchange for money.

Tan described the death of the Muktadil brothers as a major blow to the group of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Alhabsy Misaya because the two had serves as sea guides and navigators during kidnapping activities.

Since the beginning of this year, Abu Sayyaf-linked gunmen have seized 25 Indonesians and at least four Malaysians in a series of abductions in the Sulu and Celebes seas between the archipelagoes.

Of them, 20 Indonesians and four Malaysians have been released.

Kidnap-for-ransom gangs frequently operate in the seas between the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.

They are known to hand over their captives to the Abu Sayyaf and negotiate for a ransom that, if paid, is shared with the group.

Earlier this year, the Abu Sayyaf beheaded two Canadian hostages after million-dollar ransoms failed to be paid.

Since 1991, the group -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortion in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines.

It is one of two militant groups in the south to have pledged allegiance to Daesh, prompting fears during the stalling of a peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebel group that it could make inroads in a region torn by decades of armed conflict.