Muslim rebels behead two hostages

The Abu Sayyaf is notorious for kidnappings

Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines have beheaded two hostages, part of a group of Jehovah's Witnesses seized on Tuesday.

The kidnappers are terrorists, animals and barbarians

Brigadier General Romeo Tolentino

The two severed heads were found by the Philippines military on the remote southern island of Jolo.

The army chief on Jolo, Brigadier General Romeo Tolentino, said that a note was attached to one of the heads, saying: "Those who do not believe in Allah will suffer the same fate."

The rebels, believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf group, are still holding four women taken hostage at the same time, including the wife of one of the murdered men.

The army has now launched a ground and air offensive on suspected Abu Sayyaf positions around the town of Patikul, near where the group were taken captive.

Two freed

According to the authorities, the Abu Sayyaf seized eight people as they were travelling in a jeep near Patikul on Tuesday.

Two of the men, who were Muslim, were soon freed, but the six Christians were held.

Officials originally said that the two men and four women were selling cosmetics door to door for the Avon company.

However, later reports suggest that this may have been a cover to allow the Christians to engage in missionary work in a predominantly Muslim area.

The group came mainly from the city of Zamboanga, on the main southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

The kidnapping was the first on the island since US troops began working with the Philippine military to hunt down the Abu Sayyaf group.

The Abu Sayyaf group is best known for kidnapping for ransom, though the US and Philippines governments have linked it to the al-Qaeda network.

Frequent kidnappings

The US sent more than 1,000 troops to the southern Philippines to train local security forces for their campaign against the Abu Sayyaf, which last year took dozens of people hostage, including three Americans.

The US believes the Abu Sayyaf has links to Osama Bin Laden

The US troops left the country last month.

The latest kidnapping took place on the island of Jolo, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south-west of Basilan.

The victims were travelling in a remote region when suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen stopped their vehicle.

They were made to get out and led away into a forest, the military said.

The Abu Sayyaf rebels on Jolo are reported to belong to a different faction than those operating on Basilan island, and are believed to have suffered less from recently military offensives.