Search Results for: Philippines

The military is planning to send more troops to Jolo island to combat Abu Sayyaf terrorists due to an increase in violence in recent days. The military also announced that three school teachers who were kidnapped in Zamboanga Sibugay province and held hostage for six months were released.

Eight Philippine troops were killed in an ambush by Abu Sayyaf fighters. The soldiers were returning to base from a mission in which they overran an Abu Sayyaf camp of 200 fighters near the town of Indanan on Jolo Island. Nineteen Abu Sayyaf fighters were killed in the Army assault on the camp, which was […]

The military attacked a large gathering of Abu Sayyaf fighters in Sulu province, employing airstrikes and artillery to attempt to serve warrants on three Abu Sayyaf commanders. The military has sustained its offensive against Abu Sayyaf despite the holy month of Ramadan.

Two people were killed and 15 more were wounded in a grenade attack at a carnival on Jolo island by suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorists. Ten Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters surrendered to the military in Mindanao, handing over a variety of small arms and ammunition.

Jahid Susukan, an Abu Sayyaf leader with a large bounty on his head, was arrested at the port of Zamboanga on Sept. 9 on suspicion of involvement in the kidnapping of 21 tourists at a resort in Malaysia in 2000. The government announced that it expected peace talks with MILF to resume after Ramadan.

The National Police announced that they were pursuing 44 Abu Sayyaf members who were involved in the 2001 abduction of tourists from a resort in Palawan and the 2000 abduction of civilians in Basilan. President Arroyo stated that Libya’s Qadaffi Foundation may invest in economic development in Mindanao.

Madhatta Haipe, an Abu Sayyaf terrorist who kidnapped American tourists in South Cotabato province in 1995, appeared before a federal court in Washington and was ordered held without bail. An IED planted by Abu Sayyaf wounded two Army engineers as they were on the way to a local mosque to pray in Sulu province. The […]

Police filed murder charges against 13 Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters in connection with the Aug. 12 battle with government forces that left 20 Marines and three soldiers dead. Despite the truce with MILF, police continue to hunt for three commanders who are wanted for attacks on civilian communities in Basilan and […]

Seven Moro National Liberation Front fighters were killed when the military assaulted a school on the tiny island of Marabon, near the island of Palawan. One soldier was wounded and the military continued to search for MNLF fighters who escaped. MILF announced that it will not assist the government in operations against the terrorist group […]

Three Abu Sayyaf gunmen fired at two Air Force helicopters in Basilan province, damaging a helicopter carrying three journalists. The military is shipping more ammunition and other supplies to Mindanao to bolster the military as it continues to press for the destruction of Abu Sayyaf.

At least 31 Abu Sayyaf militants and 23 soldiers have been killed in intense combat in Basilan province as government troops sustained a massive offensive against terrorist encampments in the remote jungle. The military began the offensive against Abu Sayyaf last month, after Italian Red Cross worker Antonio Vagni was rescued from captivity.

In an early morning raid by the military on an Abu Sayyaf jungle encampment, 10 fighters were killed and an arsenal of improvised explosive devices was discovered and detonated. Ten other Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed in a separate raid in Basilan province. Over 500 Army soldiers, marines, and police are engaged in an offensive […]

Despite the truce with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, an errant shell fired by a military unit that was intended for MILF rebels landed near a school, wounding nine people, including eight children. Several members of the Organization of Islamic States, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, have agreed to join the peace process between […]

A five-year-old boy who was kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf on July 27 in Basilan province was rescued by Marines and reunited with his parents. Formal peace talks between the government and MILF will commence on August 18 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. President Arroyo pledged in her State of the Union Address last week to sign […]

President Obama and President Arroyo discussed US-Philippine relations at the White House, including their mutual commitment to the fight against terrorism in the southern Philippines. In Basilan province, a civilian security volunteer was killed in an ambush by Moro Islamic Liberation Front gunmen only two kilometers outside a Philippine Marine outpost.

Four Abu Sayyaf members surrendered directly to Deputy National Security Adviser Luis Singson in Sulu province; they were rushed back to Manila on board the cabinet member’s private plane. President Arroyo stated that terrorist issues will be on the agenda when she travels to Washington to meet with President Obama later this week.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front announced that it will not return to peace talks with the government unless a mediator is found, although the chief negotiator for MILF ordered his fighters to halt hostilities beginning this Saturday. Three people, including an infant, were killed when Abu Sayyaf terrorists gunned them down while they were riding […]

President Arroyo ordered the military to halt its offensives against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, to set the stage for the resumption of peace talks for the first time since last year. The military will continue to hunt down rogue MILF commanders, and has transferred hundreds of troops for a new offensive against Abu Sayyaf […]

A bomb blast at an outpost in Central Mindanao killed a soldier; 4 policemen were wounded in an ambush when they responded to the attack. A grenade was also thrown into a grocery store in Cotabato City, wounding 7 people. On Sunday, Philippine troops rescued 5 workers who were kidnapped last Wednesday by the Moro […]