MANILA, 16 March 2005 — At least 22 inmates and one police officer were killed yesterday as police stormed a maximum-security jail seized earlier by militants in the Philippine capital. Six police officers were also injured.

Four of those killed were leaders of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, all of whom were facing kidnapping and terrorism charges.

Police retook the facility at Camp Bagong Diwa in suburban Taguig in a hail of gunfire a day after negotiations to end the standoff failed.

The crisis began Monday when suspected Abu Sayyaf members overpowered and stabbed their guards, then took away their pistols and ammunition in a failed breakout, according to the police.

A shootout ensued, killing at least three guards and two Abu Sayyaf members.

Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes said among the dead Abu Sayyaf leaders were Alhamzer Manatad Limbong, known as Kosovo; Ghalib Andang, known as Commander Robot; and Nadzmie Sabtulah, alias Commander Global.

Identities of the other 18 detainees killed were not immediately known. “The terrorists got what was coming to them,” Ignacio Bunye, press secretary for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, said in a statement. “The crisis team gave them all the chances to peacefully surrender.”

The assault came after Reyes gave the inmates 15 minutes to surrender. A deal Monday to end the drama fell apart over the militants’ demand for dinner. “They refused to yield the firearms which they grabbed from the guards and turned down our calls and assurances for their safety, including the plea of our Muslim leaders,” Reyes said.

As the deadline passed, intense gunfire rang out. Police fired tear gas, and sharpshooters ran in and out of the main steel gates wearing gas masks. A police helicopter hovered above and ambulances waited for casualties.

Police said that a core of about 10 Abu Sayyaf members had carried out the uprising, in which the prisoners snatched a gun and shot dead three guards.

A police video taken after the assault and shown on local television showed several dead Abu Sayyaf suspects slumped on the prison floor with bullet wounds.

“Terrorism will never win in the Philippines,” President Arroyo said in a statement. “We shall ensure this incident does not happen again.”

Mujib Hataman, a Muslim congressman who unsuccessfully tried to broker a surrender deal, said it was “saddening” that the drama ended in more bloodshed.

— With input from agencies