2 killed by Abu Sayyaf men in south Philippines

Two civilians were killed and another was wounded when they were fired upon by Abu Sayyaf terrorists off the waters of Maimbung town in Sulu province of southern Philippines on Tuesday afternoon, a military commander reported on Wednesday.

Col. Allan Arrojado, chief of the Joint Task Group Sulu, said the victims were aboard a motorized boat, cruising between the seawaters of Tiomabal island in Maimbung town and Tapul town, around 3 p.m. when they were fired upon by Abu Sayyaf men aboard another boat.

Arrojado said, the victims were attacked "without any apparent reason."

Arrojado said the Abu Sayyaf men may be trying to avenge the death of their five comrades during the failed kidnapping of businesswoman Guan Kim Maujon last May 6 in Laminusa island.

The 400-strong Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), founded in the early 1990s by Islamic extremists, is a violent Muslim terrorist group operating in the southern Philippines. The ASG is notorious for a series of kidnappings, bombings and even beheadings in southern Philippines over the past decades.