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Disaster Looms in Pakistan Decorum was abandoned as accusations ricocheted between the wood-panelled walls of Pakistan's national assembly on Monday night. "Murderers! Murderers of innocent people!" screamed an MP from a religious party, his yellow turban shaking as he wagged a finger towards the government benches. Five female parliamentarians, their faces concealed behind black and white burkas, slapped the benches with open palms. Another mullah stood up and started shouting. The speaker strained to maintain order. Others were less captivated by the debate on last month's siege of the Red Mosque, in which more than 100 people died. One...

'Fifty dead' in Philippines clash More than 50 people have been killed in clashes between troops and Islamist militants in the southern Philippines, military officials say. The fighting, on Jolo island, began on Thursday when militants ambushed a military convoy, killing 10 soldiers. Fifteen more soldiers died in later gun battles, and at least 27 militants were killed, the military said. It blamed Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf and rogue elements in the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Thousands of Philippine troops, backed by US military trainers, are based in Jolo, some 950km (600 miles) south of the capital, Manila....

Six road workers kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf extremists were found beheaded Thursday in Jolo. The severed heads of the six mostly-Christian workers were found in the jungles of Jolo by soldiers, four days after the workers were seized while heading to a government road project, said Major General Ruben Rafael. The workers were seized by Al Bader Parad, a commander of the Abu Sayyaf, responsible for the worst terror attacks in Philippine history. One of the soldiers who found the remains said, on condition of anonymity, that the heads had been scattered in various places in Jolo. The soldier said...

The Philippine government and a Muslim rebel group have been urged to end a three-day battle that has left at least 12 people dead and displaced thousands.The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) called on both sides to abide by a 1996 peace agreement. Government troops and helicopter gunships pounded a base of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) on southern Jolo island at the weekend. It followed a mortar attack on two marine camps on Friday. That attack, which killed two marines and a child, has been blamed on an MNLF commander, Habier Malik. Government forces retaliated by...

Excerpt - MANILA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines are holding Manila's military chief, the head of the government's truce panel, a colonel and an undetermined number of soldiers hostage, senior military sources said on Saturday. Members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) were refusing to let Brigadier-General Ben Dolorfino, the commander of military forces in the capital, and Ramon Santos, government undersecretary for the peace process with the MNLF, leave their camp until their jailed founder was released. Local media reported that more than 20 senior military, defence and government officials were being held...

SOUTHEAST Asia's most wanted terrorist, Bali bomb mastermind Dulmatin, has been wounded in a fierce gunfight on remote Jolo Island in a significant win for US-backed Philippines forces battling to "eliminate" the Jemaah Islamiah kingpin and his Abu Sayyaf cronies. The Australian, in a series of interviews with the top Philippines and US commanders in the southern Philippines, has also learned that Dulmatin, along with his JI Bali bomber partner Patek, are on the run for their lives on Jolo. The pair spend no longer than six hours in one place on the jungle-covered volcanic island. According to Philippines Brigadier-General...

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) - At least 10 Al Qaeda-linked militants were killed in the Philippines in intensified operations ordered by President Gloria Arroyo a day after the military said it had slain their main leader. The fighting on the southern Philippines island of Jolo came shortly after Arroyo pledged to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf group following the reported killing of one of its leaders, Abu Solaiman, in a gunbattle. The fighting took place when marine troops caught up with a large group of Abu Sayyaf militants near the town of Patikul, the military's southern command said. Initial reports from...

"They'll slit your throat on Jolo," people told Col. Jim Linder, head of a U.S. military task force in the Philippines. He recalled the prediction as we buzzed toward Jolo Island in a helicopter. Linder, a 45-year-old South Carolina native who has the remnants of a Southern drawl, has led Special Forces operations in the Middle East, Central and South America, Eastern Europe and Africa for the past 20 years. His latest assignment is the remote 345-square-mile island at the southernmost edge of the vast Philippines archipelago. Jolo is a known haven for Al Qaeda-linked terrorist groups, including Abu Sayyaf,...

<p>Cotabato City, 11 Sept. (AKI) - One of two top Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members hiding in the southern Philippines province of Sulu, was reportedly killed by Filipino security forces, a spokesperson for the Muslim rebel groups in the south told Adnkronos International (AKI) on Monday. Eid Kabalu, spokesperson of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said that their forces in the town of Jolo, some 590 miles south of Manila, have received information that one of two JI militants was killed in last week's offensive by the Philippine Army and Marines in the nearby town of Patikul.</p>

The military believed that plans by the Abu Sayyaf to conduct bombings in the country were averted with the discovery of the biggest camp of the group in Jolo, Sulu, ABS-CBN News reported Friday. An exclusive report of late night newscast Bandila said that as early as July, the military had already planned to raid the camp of the Abu Sayyaf in the jungles of Jolo after receiving information from residents living nearby. The camp was being used as training ground for Abu Sayyaf members and was once the hiding place of leaders Abu Sulayman, Khadaffy Janjalani and Radulan...

Soldiers in the Philippines have clashed with suspected Islamic militants on the southern island of Jolo, according to the military. Air strikes targeted a base thought to be used by the Abu Sayyaf group. Troops then engaged in heavy fighting with fleeing militants, officials said. The Philippine authorities have been trying to flush Abu Sayyaf rebels from hideouts in remote island locations. They are also searching for members of regional terror group Jemaah Islamiah. A military statement said the assault came after Abu Sayyaf leader Khadafi Janjalani and unidentified Jemaah Islamiah militants were seen in the area. Major-General Gabriel Habacon...

According to the report, at least five terrorists believed to be linked to al-Qaida murdered six or more Christians by gunfire after asking them if they believed in Christ on the front doorsteps of their homes. The incident occurred on the morning of Feb. 2 in the village of Patikul on the small Philippine island of Jolo, which is predominantly Muslim. At least one witness said a baby girl was among the casualties. Five people were injured during the door-to-door questioning. The Islamic terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, which means "Bearer of the Sword" is assumed responsible for the attacks, as...

GUNMEN attacked a group of Christian families in the southern Philippines yesterday, leaving at least six dead on the island of Jolo, a mainly Muslim island hotbed of Islamic militants, police said. The apparently sectarian violence in the town of Patikul occurred in a cluster of houses behind a Philippine Marine camp, and came less than three weeks before a small group of US soldiers deploy on the island for joint military exercises. At least five unidentified gunmen opened fire on three thatch houses before dawn, killing three men. The Muslim wife of one of the victims and their eight-month...

(2ND UPDATE) FOURTEEN soldiers have been killed while over a dozen have been wounded after followers of detained former rebel leader Nur Misuari attacked several military installations in Sulu island on Monday, a military spokesman said. Thirteen soldiers were killed after Misuari's followers and Abu Sayyaf members ambushed Marine Battalion Landing Team 5 in barangay (village) Pansul in Patikul town at 1:35 p.m., Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventura Pascual said. Fourteen other soldiers were wounded in the assault on the military truck, Pascual said. "Pursuit operations are ongoing," the military spokesman said, adding that they had yet to account for rebel casualties....

Troops in the Philippines have captured the "spiritual adviser" of the Abu Sayyaf along with two other members of the Al Qaeda-linked band, a military spokesman says. Colonel Gominto Tirino says Abraham Jumdaini was arrested on September 21 in the southern island of Jolo. However, his capture was only revealed today, after former Abu Sayyaf members identified him as the person recruited by Abu Sayyaf founder Abdurajak Janjalani. He says an anti-terrorist task force captured two more Abu Sayyaf members a day later but they are still being questioned. He declines to reveal reveal their identities. The military says Jumdaini,...

MANILA, DECEMBER 8: The Philippine military flew a captured leader of the Islamic Abu Sayyaf militants to Manila on Monday, giving President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo a badly needed boost in a pre-election drive to appear tough on crime. Ghalib Andang, widely known as Commander Robot, burst into prominence in 2000, when he abducted 21 tourists and workers from the Sipadan dive resort in Malaysia. They held the hostages, who included French, German, Finnish and South African nationals, for months on the island of Jolo, before freeing them for millions of dollars in ransom. He was wounded in a firefight...

A TOP Abu Sayyaf rebel leader implicated in the kidnapping of dozens of mostly European hostages in April 2000 was captured in an operation in the southern Philippines today, the military chief said. Galib Andang, popularly known as Commander Robot, was held after a gunfight on the island of Jolo, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General Narciso Abaya said. "This is one big step in our international fight against terrorism," Abaya said, without giving details. Andang, who was wounded in the gunbattle, was part of a band of Abu Sayyaf members who raided Malaysian resorts in Sipadan island in...

MANILA: The Abu Sayyaf's longest-held hostage had escaped from the extremist group following a gunbattle between Philippine marines and his captors, a military spokesman said on Friday. Roland Ulah escaped on Wednesday after more than three years in captivity in the confusion of the clash outside Patikul town on southern Jolo island, Lt Col Daniel Lucero said. One marine and an undetermined number of guerrillas were killed and 11 other soldiers were injured, he added. Lucero said that Ulah hid in a ravine and was found by local villagers the following day when he asked for directions to get to...

PHILIPPINE soldiers have recovered headless remains believed to be those of an Indonesian sailor and a Filipino trader who were taken hostage and reportedly killed by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas on southern Jolo island, officials said today. The remains were found buried in a shallow grave in the jungle village of Panglayahan in Patikul town, 940 kilometres south of Manila. Another Indonesian hostage who managed to escape from his captors last week helped the military find the remains. Indonesian Pieter Lerrich told reporters after his escape that he understood that his colleague Munto Jacobus Winowatan had been killed by the guerrillas....

MANILA: Fierce clashes between Philippine marine troops and Abu Sayyaf rebels Saturday left at least seven soldiers dead and 25 others wounded on the southern island of Jolo, military officials said. Government bombers and attack helicopters took turns blasting suspected positions of an Abu Sayyaf faction believed to be holding four female Jehovah's Witnesses, the officials added. The women were snatched Aug. 20 while selling Avon cosmetics in a remote village on the troubled island. There were no reports on the women's fate. Three Indonesian tugboat crewmen are also being held by the Abu Sayyaf. Other marines deployed elsewhere on...

Wednesday, August 28, 2002   AFP ready to punch on Jolo kidnap group By Johnna Villaviray “Contact is imminent” between the military and the abductors of four female Jehovah Witnesses preachers in Jolo, Armed Forces chief Gen. Roy Cimatu said on the eve of a government deadline for release negotiations. Cimatu said he expects the 103rd Brigade in Sulu to clash with an estimated 150 guerrillas led by Mujin Sahiron. While military officials earlier said Sahiron’s group was not part of the Abu Sayyaf, they are now acknowledging reports that the “bandits” have linked up with the extremist group....

Philippines set to deliver 'killer punch' to kidnappersElite troops are on Abu Sayyaf's southern island-stronghold poised to attack if the 4 surviving hostages not freed in 5 daysBy Luz Baguioro PHILIPPINES CORRESPONDENT MANILA - The Philippines sent in elite counter-terrorism troops to the Abu Sayyaf's southern island-stronghold as the military prepared to deliver a 'killer punch' if four hostages seized by an allied group were not freed within five days.The Army Light Reaction Company, equipped with high-powered weapons provided by the United States under a military assistance package, was part of a contingent of more than 1,000 troops sent to...