Philippine police kill an Abu Sayyaf militant implicated in 15 beheadings and other atrocities

By JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine forces have killed an Abu Sayyaf militant who had been implicated in past beheadings including of 10 Filipino marines and two kidnapped Vietnamese. Philippine police backed by military intelligence agents killed Nawapi Abdulsaid in a brief gunbattle Wednesday night in the remote coastal town of Hadji Mohammad Ajul on Basilan island. Security officials said Friday that it came after weeks of surveillance. Abu Sayyaf is a small but violent armed Muslim group which has been blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization. It has been considerably weakened but remains a security threat in the southern Philippines.