MANILA, Philippines?Newly appointed Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff General Delfin Bangit has given government troops two months to crush the Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu.

AFP spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner Jr. on Wednesday said Bangit has ordered the deployment of a fresh batch of an Army elite force to intensify offensives against the extremist group responsible for the series of kidnapping and bombings on the island.

The fresh batch of government troops would boost combat operations currently being conducted by over 1,000 Marines on the island, said Brawner.

To crush the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf did not mean "totally eradicating" the group but to "substantially reduce their capability to launch atrocities and crimes against their people," said Brawner in an interview with reporters Wednesday.

Bangit enumerated two ways to meet the deadline: to pour in more resources such as gasoline and ammunition in Sulu, where roughly 200 Abu Sayyaf fighters were monitored to be operating, and to innovate strategies in running after the extremist group, explained Brawner.

Brawner added that the chief of staff has already ordered Army chief Lieutenant General Reynaldo Mapagu to start sending Army troops to the island. "Within the month, the deployment will be completed," he said.