By DPA,
Manila : Philippine troops Sunday killed two suspected Muslim militants, including a commander, and captured another in a clash in a southern province, the army chief said.
The soldiers were on patrol when they encountered the armed men in the village of Baguindan in Tipo-Tipo town in Basilan province, 900 km south of Manila.
Lieutenant General Arturo Ortiz said the soldiers recovered assorted weapons including two automatic rifles and one rocket-propelled grenade.
He said one of the slain suspects was identified as Patti Kabulot, a commander of the Abu Sayyaf group, accused of some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines.
The other was Bomboh Indaman, a suspected Abu Sayyaf member and uncle of another commander. The captured suspect was a cousin of Kabulot, Ortiz added.
The Abu Sayyaf, allegedly linked to the international Al Qaeda terrorist network, has also been blamed for kidnap-for-ransom cases involving foreigners in the southern Philippines.