Abu Sayyaf

The father of a kidnapped American missionary Thursday accused the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf of reneging on an agreement to free his son and daughter-in-law. Paul Burnham called Radio Mindanao Network in the southern Philippines from his home in Wichita, Kan., saying the Abu Sayyaf had added unspecified conditions to the deal, which he said was finalized in March and was to include the release of Filipina nurse Deborah Yap.

Two American soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb believed to have been planted by Al Qaeda-linked militants, U.S. officials said. They were the first U.S. troops to die in an attack in the Philippines in seven years. A Philippine marine also was killed and two were wounded in the blast on Jolo island, a poor, predominantly Muslim southern region where the Americans have been providing combat training and weapons to government troops battling Abu Sayyaf militants. The Philippine military suspects that the militant group was behind the attack.

The Philippine army said it captured a suspected member of the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf who allegedly took part in the kidnapping and beheading of at least 10 villagers. Lt. Col. Danilo Lucero said Putong Kampala was arrested Sunday on Basilan island. Kampala, a.k.a. Abu Nasser, is believed to have participated in the beheading of at least 10 people in Balobo village in August 2001, Lucero said. The victims were among more than 30 abducted by Abu Sayyaf. The rest were freed or escaped.

A Philippine general said 23 soldiers have been killed in fierce clashes that also left at least 20 Al Qaeda-linked militants dead in the country's restive south. Regional military commander Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino said about 400 army, marine and police commandos launched simultaneous, predawn attacks on two Abu Sayyaf extremist group encampments on Basilan island, sparking fierce fighting that continued to rage late in the day. Dolorfino said today that 20 marines and three soldiers, including two officers, were killed in the clashes.

Philippine police arrested a senior member of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group suspected in the 2001 abduction of three Americans and 17 Filipinos, officials said. Otto Hapikin was captured at his hide-out on Basilan island, where the Abu Sayyaf took the hostages after raiding the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan province, said Arturo Lomibao of the national police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Government troops in the Philippines have captured three Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, including an officer in charge of the Muslim separatist group's communications, military officials said. In addition to holding hostages, including Americans, the Abu Sayyaf has links to exiled Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden, the military has said. Bin Laden, who is believed to be in Afghanistan, is a prime suspect in last week's terror attacks in the United States.

Five alleged members of the Muslim militant group Abu Sayyaf were arrested as suspects in a deadly series of bombings in Zamboanga, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said. Officials said the men admitted taking part in the bombings of two department stores last week that killed seven people and injured 152 others and a blast Sunday at a Roman Catholic shrine that killed one person and injured 18.

Troops seized the main base of the Abu Sayyaf militant group on the Philippines' southern island of Jolo, but eight soldiers were killed when guerrillas ambushed a convoy returning from the area, the military said. At least five rebels were killed in fighting resulting from the ambush, Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner told reporters. Soldiers backed by airstrikes seized the base near Indanan town on Jolo, killing 19 rebels in a complex laced with bunkers and trenches, another military officer said.

Fierce clashes between Philippine marines and Abu Sayyaf rebels on the southern island of Jolo left at least 11 soldiers dead and 26 others wounded, military officials said Saturday. Government bombers and attack helicopters took turns blasting suspected positions of an Abu Sayyaf faction believed to be holding hostage four Jehovah's Witnesses, all women, the officials added. There were no immediate reports on rebel casualties. The women were abducted Aug.

Muslim extremists have seized 36 Filipinos and beheaded at least four, apparently to punish the military for its ongoing offensive, officials said Friday. The Abu Sayyaf's attack Thursday night on a village on the southern Philippine island of Basilan was the biggest since May 27, when the group raided a beach resort and seized 20 hostages, including three Americans.

Police in the Philippines rescued a kidnapped Red Cross worker from his Al Qaeda-linked captors early today, officials said, but there was no immediate word on the fate of another hostage. Andreas Notter, 38, of Switzerland was rescued on southern Jolo island, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said, citing "verified reports." Provincial officials also said Notter had been freed by police, not released by his Abu Sayyaf captors as initially reported.

A Philippine court convicted 14 Muslim militants today of abducting a U.S. missionary couple and 18 others in a string of 2001 kidnappings that resulted in the deaths of two Americans and prompted Washington to start training Filipino troops. Most of the top leaders of Abu Sayyaf, which orchestrated the abductions at a resort, have been killed since the trial opened in 2003. Philippine officials have credited the U.S.

The Bush administration took action Wednesday against three Saudis suspected of raising money to bankroll terrorist acts and supporting an Al Qaeda-affiliated group believed responsible for bombings and kidnappings in Southeast Asia. The action covers Abdul Rahim Al-Talhi, Muhammad Abdallah Salih Sughayr and Fahd Muhammad Abd Al-Aziz Al-Khashiban, the Treasury Department said.

DNA tests confirmed the death of the leader of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, which is believed responsible for the beheading of a California tourist and the kidnapping of two American missionaries, officials said Saturday. Khadafi Abubakar Janjalani was believed to have been killed in September in fighting with U.S.-backed Philippine troops, who also killed Janjalani's possible successor in an operation Tuesday.

ISABELA, Philippines -- The United States and the Philippines agreed Monday to move U.S. Special Forces troops closer to combat areas in the country's south in a stepped-up manhunt for Muslim guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden. The presidential palace in Manila announced the decision as U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz flew to the southern island of Basilan, stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf rebels, and met U.S. troops training Philippine soldiers in counter-terrorism.