By Jim Gomez Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Swiss hostage made a dramatic escape Saturday from Abu Sayyaf extremists when he hacked a rebel commander and then got shot as he dashed to freedom amid a military bombardment, ending more than two years of jungle captivity in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Al-Qaida-linked militants free 2 Filipino hostages
By Jim Gomez The Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Abu Sayyaf gunmen have freed two Filipino members of a Jordanian TV journalist’s crew who were kidnapped by the al-Qaida-linked militants last year, as they set out to interview the extremists in their jungle lairs in the southern Philippines, police said Sunday, Jan. 31.
4 Philippine marines killed in clash
By Jim Gomez The Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine marines who were searching for long-held hostages battled al-Qaida-linked militants in a fierce clash that killed four marines and at least two insurgents in the country’s south, officials said. The fighting erupted in the mountainous hinterlands of Patikul town in Sulu province, where the Abu Sayyaf […]