Kidnappings Abu Sayyaf

Islamic terrorists who specialise in kidnapping for ransom have reported killing a German sailor and abducting her elderly male companion from their yacht off the southern Philippines, the military said on Monday.

The Philippine military says it has killed 70 Abu Sayyaf militants and captured 32 others in a major offensive that began in July against the group, which is accused of kidnapping sailors from neighboring countries for ransom.

Abu Sayyaf pocketed at least 353 million pesos ($7.3 million) from ransom kidnappings in the first six months of the year and have turned to abductions of foreign tugboat crewmen as military offensives restricted the militants' mobility, a confidential Philippine government report said.

Three foreign men and a Filipina kidnapped last month in the southern Philippines have appeared in a video posted online, making demands for the Islamic militants who abducted them.

Gunmen seized a retired Italian priest in the strife-torn southern Philippines, authorities said Today, the latest abduction blamed on an infamous Islamic militant group that specialises in kidnappings-for-ransom.

Two Germans kidnapped by Islamic militants in the Philippines are safely back at their Manila embassy, officials said Saturday after a harrowing six-month ordeal in which they endured threats of beheading and seemingly routine cruelty.

Al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants in the Philippines holding two Germans said on Friday they had received some of the ransom they had been demanding and would not kill one of the Germans as they had threatened to.

The Philippine military says soldiers attacked a Muslim militant hideout on southern Basilan island, triggering a clash that killed three Abu Sayyaf members believed to have been involved in the 2011 kidnapping of an American woman and her teenage son. Two government militiamen were killed and two others were wounded.

Philippine security forces have captured two Abu Sayyaf militants in a southern city, including one who allegedly was involved in the kidnappings of an American teenage boy and an Australian man, officials said Tuesday.

An Indian man escaped from al-Qaida-linked militants on Friday after being held captive in the southern Philippines for nearly 14 months. Bijo Kolara Veetil escaped before dawn as his Abu Sayyaf captors were preparing breakfast, said Sulu Provincial Police Chief Antonio Freyra.

Islamic terrorists who specialise in kidnapping for ransom have reported killing a German sailor and abducting her elderly male companion from their yacht off the southern Philippines, the military said on Monday.

The Philippine military says it has killed 70 Abu Sayyaf militants and captured 32 others in a major offensive that began in July against the group, which is accused of kidnapping sailors from neighboring countries for ransom.

Abu Sayyaf pocketed at least 353 million pesos ($7.3 million) from ransom kidnappings in the first six months of the year and have turned to abductions of foreign tugboat crewmen as military offensives restricted the militants' mobility, a confidential Philippine government report said.

Three foreign men and a Filipina kidnapped last month in the southern Philippines have appeared in a video posted online, making demands for the Islamic militants who abducted them.

Gunmen seized a retired Italian priest in the strife-torn southern Philippines, authorities said Today, the latest abduction blamed on an infamous Islamic militant group that specialises in kidnappings-for-ransom.

Two Germans kidnapped by Islamic militants in the Philippines are safely back at their Manila embassy, officials said Saturday after a harrowing six-month ordeal in which they endured threats of beheading and seemingly routine cruelty.

Al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants in the Philippines holding two Germans said on Friday they had received some of the ransom they had been demanding and would not kill one of the Germans as they had threatened to.

The Philippine military says soldiers attacked a Muslim militant hideout on southern Basilan island, triggering a clash that killed three Abu Sayyaf members believed to have been involved in the 2011 kidnapping of an American woman and her teenage son. Two government militiamen were killed and two others were wounded.

Philippine security forces have captured two Abu Sayyaf militants in a southern city, including one who allegedly was involved in the kidnappings of an American teenage boy and an Australian man, officials said Tuesday.

An Indian man escaped from al-Qaida-linked militants on Friday after being held captive in the southern Philippines for nearly 14 months. Bijo Kolara Veetil escaped before dawn as his Abu Sayyaf captors were preparing breakfast, said Sulu Provincial Police Chief Antonio Freyra.