Philippine police kill militant commander, 2 men

Philippine police commandos killed an Abu Sayyaf commander linked to last year's kidnapping of Red Cross workers and gunned down two other militants in a clash in the south, officials said Sunday. Police went on full alert after the killings to guard against any retaliatory attacks.

Gafur Jumdail and two of his men were killed late Saturday near Maimbung town on Jolo island after clashing with commandos tracking a Malaysian militant and allied Filipino fighters, Jolo police chief Senior Superintendent Joseph Ramac said.

The death of Jumdail, who had been accused of several high-profile abductions including the January 2009 kidnappings of three Red Cross workers from Switzerland, Italy and the Philippines, is the latest blow to the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf.

Still, the group remains a major security threat in the Philippines, and national police placed the entire force in the southern Mindanao region on full alert Sunday to brace for any possible retaliatory attacks over Jumdail's death.

In Saturday's clash, commandos assaulted a house in a remote village in an attempt to arrest Jumdail, his elder brother, who is also an Abu Sayyaf commander, and Zulkifli bin Hir, a Malaysian militant wanted by Washington for alleged terrorist involvement, according to a police report.