Manila, Philippines ? Two major operations against Abu Sayyaf rebels were a triumph of American technology and local intelligence in the anti-terrorism fight, Philippine military officials said Wednesday.

U.S.-provided tracing devices implanted in a backpack and boat used by the Muslim extremists helped in the rescue of an American hostage and later in the apparent death of a rebel leader, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

The disclosures point to a deeper than previously admitted U.S. involvement in the fight against terror in the Philippines but still fall short of a direct U.S. combat role.

The rebels had kidnapped 102 people in a yearlong spree.

Pressured by U.S.-backed military offensives, leader Abu Sabaya crossed by boat with his final hostages to nearby Zamboanga peninsula, where army scout rangers tracked them and mounted the rescue. Gracia Burnham of Wichita, Kan., was rescued, but her husband, Martin, and Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap were killed on June 7.

Military officials said local marine intelligence agents got wind of Sabaya’s escape to Zamboanga del Norte province as early as February and worked to identify his local couriers and contacts, several of whom eventually decided to work for the military as spies.

Through the couriers used by Sabaya to obtain food, medicine and other supplies marine and army officials were able to give the rebels a backpack implanted with three types of U.S. military-supplied gadgets that emitted signals picked up by American surveillance planes and a satellite.

The signals allowed local troops to have a general idea of the whereabouts of Sabaya, about a dozen of his men and the hostages, the officials said.

Sabaya later used his contacts to seek a motorboat to escape to nearby Jolo island, officials said. A Philippine general secured a boat, which was fitted with U.S. tracing devices.

Marine and naval boats rammed the craft at the start of a brief gunbattle that is believed to have killed Sabaya and two other Abu Sayyaf members.