The officials said 10 militants, including two foreigners, were killed in the attack targeting Taliban fighters. Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner, a spokesman for the Philippine military, said local authorities were already co-ordinating with US and Pakistani officials to confirm the report.
"If true that Usman was killed, that will be a good point or counter-terrorism," he said. "If we eliminate or neutralise this terrorist, then of course this will be a good point for society." Brawner said Usman, who was wanted by the United States, was suspected to be behind a number of deadly bomb attacks in the Philippines.
He added that Usman's death would weaken the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, an al Qaeda-linked gang of bandits blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines. "It would cripple the Abu Sayyaf's capability because he was the group's expert on improvised explosive devices," he said. Abu Sayyaf has also been blamed for high-profile kidnapping-for-ransom cases involving foreign hostages in the southern Philippines.