Philippine troops have captured a notorious kidnap gang leader and one of his men following a clash in the main southern island of Mindanao, a military spokesman said Thursday.
Gang leader Bantu Ulingan Minanding and Guianun Giualul were caught early this week in Sultan sa Barongis town, Colonel Fredesvindo Covarrubias of the military southern command's civil relations group said.
A subsequent raid on the gang's hideout on Wednesday resulted in the seizure of an anti-tank rocket launcher, automatic rifles and ammunition, although troops failed to capture additional members of the group.
"The intelligence efforts of the military paid off and their capture will surely break or weaken their group," Covarrubias said.
Minanding's group is believed to be behind a spate of abductions mostly of local traders in Mindanao, but is also believed to have links with another kidnapping group called "the Pentagon."
The Pentagon, composed mostly of renegade members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, is holding Italian missionary Giuseppe Pierantoni somewhere in Mindanao.
The priest was snatched from his parish in Dimataling town last month, and is believed to have fallen ill while in captivity.
Another group, the Abu Sayyaf, is also holding an American missionary couple and eight Filipinos on the southern island of Basilan -- AFP
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