Two Alleged Assassins Slain in Philippine Raid

ZAMBOANGA CITY, 22 June 2007 — Troops gunned down two alleged Abu Sayyaf assassins long wanted for the spate of killings and terrorism in the troubled southern region, officials said yesterday.

Acting on a tip by civilian informants, soldiers stormed an Abu Sayyaf hideout and killed brothers Anni and Iting Sailani on Wednesday afternoon in Basilan island, the military said in a report.

A son of Iting Sailani was also wounded in the fighting, the report said.

Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, Western Mindanao Command chief, said raiding troops were forced to fire when the suspects put up a fight.

“They chose to shoot it out with our troops,” he told reporters. “We surprised them and gave them a chance to give up, but they tried to shoot their way out.”

Cedo said the Sailani brothers, each carrying a bounty of one million pesos ($21,700), were believed to be senior members of the Abu Sayyaf, the deadliest militant group in the Philippines.

“The two brothers were ruthless killers. They were behind the spate of killings of soldiers and policemen and even a journalist,” said Maj. Eugene Batara, a regional army spokesman.

The Sailani brothers were arrested and jailed in the late 1990s for the killing of Benjamin de Jesus, the Roman Catholic bishop of Jolo island, near Basilan.

But they escaped and helped carry out the kidnappings of 21 foreign tourists and resort workers from Malaysia in April 2000.

They were also implicated in a number of abduction and murder cases, including the murder of 26-year-old news photographer Gene Boyd Lumawag, who was shot in the head by a sniper during Ramadan on Nov. 12, 2004, while on assignment for the local news agency Mindanews on Jolo Island.

The 26-year-old Lumawag was preparing a report on Eid Al-Fitr, the Muslim festivity that marks the end of Ramadan, when he was gunned down, according to the media watch group, Reporters Without Borders.

Lumawag was one of dozens of reporters murdered and wounded in line of duty in the Philippines, tagged by international media groups as the most dangerous place for journalist after Iraq.