ZAMBOANGA CITY: Authorities detained two people, including an alleged policeman, both linked to a terror plot in the city.

Officials said that the two were captured during an operation here over the weekend and that the men are members of the local Abu Sayyaf group tied by authorities to the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah.

Local police chief James Mejia confirmed the arrest of the duo, but did not give details about the operations that led to the capture of the men, who are natives of Basilan province, a known stronghold of Abu Sayyaf bandits.

Other reports said that the duo was plotting to bomb civilian targets in Zamboanga, which recently celebrated the Catholic feast of the Virgin Mary.

It was not immediately known whether explosives had been recovered from the men, but one of them was also linked to the series of kidnappings and attacks in Basilan, one of five provinces under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The Abu Sayyaf has been tagged as behind the spate of terror attacks and kidnappings of foreigners in the southern Philippines over the last two decades.

Many of their leaders had been either killed in clashes or captured by security forces, but despite this the threats pose by the rebel group are still a major concern to the government.