Philippines military kills three top Al-Qaeda-linked militants

Manila, Feb 3 (ANI): The Philippines' military has said that it has killed three senior militants from Al-Qaeda-linked groups in the south of the country.

According to the military, the militants were killed in a raid on Thursday in the town of Parang on Jolo island, Sulu province.

The three terrorist leaders among the 15 people killed in total have been identified as Umbra Jumdail, a leader in the Abu Sayyaf group, and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leaders Zulkifli bin Hir and Abdullah Ali.

Zulkifli bin Hir, a Malaysian national also known as Marwan, who carried a 5 million dollars reward for his capture offered by the United States, was also killed, The BBC reports.

Marwan, a top JI leader, is said to have been behind a series of bomb attacks in the southern Philippines since 2006.

According to the FBI, Marwan was "an engineer trained in the US" and has conducted bomb-making activities for militant groups, especially Abu Sayyaf.

The report quoted a military spokesman, as saying that the operation was ordered after reports that a group of militants had arrived in the area on December 30. (ANI)