MANILA, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine military said on Wednesday that Abu Sayyaf militants have killed two Vietnamese men they took hostage last year.

Cant. Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesperson of the military's Western Mindanao Command, said villagers in Sumisip, a town in the island prince of Basilan, found the decapitated bodies of the victims around 5:40 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

Petinglay identified the victims as Hoang Thong and Hoang Va Hai. The two were among the six crew members of the MV Royal 16 Vietnamese cargo vessel who were forcibly taken by the militants in November last year while sailing in the waters off Sibago Island in Basilan.

The military is coordinating with the Vietnamese Embassy, Petinglay said.

Abu Sayyaf jihadist group was set up in the early 1990s with funding from al-Qaida group. It is one of the Islamic-extremist groups in the Philippines that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS).