Abu Sayyaf

SUNGAI BULOH, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian gecko trader held captive by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants for a year in the southern Philippines says he saw group members as young as 15 skilled in using M16 rifles that were prevalent in the impoverished region.Read Full Story

A Malaysian gecko trader held captive by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants for a year in the southern Philippines says he saw group members as young as 15 skilled in using M16 rifles that were prevalent in the impoverished region.Read Full Story

Wed, Mar 14 2012 8:03 IST | 11 Views | Add your comment SHARE: A top leader of the Abu Sayyaf militant group has been captured in southern Philippines, police said Wednesday. Jeri Jeheron, alias "Black Tungkang", was arrested Tuesday in Sulu province. Security forces chanced upon Jeheron while he was on a surveillance mission, Xinhua quoted an official as saying. The Abu Sayyaf group was founded in the 1990s. It has links with Al Qaeda and has carried out a number of high-profile...Read Full Story

MANILA (Reuters) - A bomb exploded on a bus in the Philippine capital on Tuesday, killing four people and wounding 14, and officials said they could not rule out terrorism as they began an investigation into the blast.Several rebel groups including communists and Islamists are battling security forces in various parts of the Philippines, a staunch U.S. ally, but attacks in Manila are rare.The explosion happened at around 2 p.m. (1 a.m. EST) when the bus was on a highway in the main business...Read Full Story

According to the Sulu police, Adzhar Patta “Ajang” Mawalil was arrested in the locale of Jolo around 5 p.m whilst the army was conducting a notice operation. They mentioned Mawalil is a of the bandits working beneath Abu Sayyaf personality Albader Parad. Police authorities think Mawalil was entangled in the taking away by force of 3 International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers in Sulu, and in the beheading of 7 building workers. – Report from RJ Rosalado, ABS-CBN News Zamboanga...Read Full Story

A former town mayor in the strife-torn southern Philippines was shot dead Monday in a brazen attack that also badly wounded his wife, police said.Najib Maldisa suffered six bullet wounds to his body and died as he was being rushed to hospital after the attack in Zamboanga city on Mindanao island, national police spokesman Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz said.His wife was in a serious condition, Cruz said.No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but police said the motive could...Read Full Story

A priest and five churchgoers were slightly wounded in a bomb blast during Christmas Day Mass at a police chapel in the volatile southern Philippines, the military said Saturday.The improvised explosive was hidden in the ceiling of the chapel, which is located inside a police camp in Jolo town on Jolo Island, a stronghold of al-Qaida-linked militants, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang.The wounded were taken to a hospital but their injuries were not life threatening, he said...Read Full Story

Police in the volatile southern Philippines say gunmen with ties to al-Qaida-linked militants have freed two Malaysian laborers from 10 months of jungle captivity.National police chief Raul Bacalzo said police commandos found the two near Bongao town in southernmost Tawi-Tawi island province late Tuesday. He said the gunmen linked to the notorious kidnap and terrorist group Abu Sayyaf abandoned the hostages after they were encircled by government forces.The hostages were seized Feb. 8 from a...Read Full Story

MANILA, Philippines (2nd UPDATE) - A known member of the Al Qaeda network, supported by the notorious Abu Sayyaf, had plans to bomb certain parts of Metro Manila, the Associated Press reported. One target date was supposedly last June 12, when the country was celebrating its 113th Independence Day. The intelligence community had been on high alert on that day. A military official, who refused to be named, confirmed the report but considered it “without basis.” "We got the report long ago but...Read Full Story

The Associated Press The Associated Press ZAMBOANGA, Philippines Philippine police have rescued a government midwife kidnapped by al-Qaida-linked militants after a brief firefight on a southern island. Sulu provincial police operations chief Amil Baanan says officers clashed early Thursday with the Abu Sayyaf fighters holding Evangeline Taverisma near Parang township on Jolo island. Baanan says the militants escaped and abandoned Taverisma after a 10-minute gunbattle...Read Full Story