Western Mindanao, Philippines News

Zamboanga, Philippines - The government of a southern Philippine island appealed on Monday for a state of emergency to be declared after dozens of Islamic militants escaped from jail and others beheaded a hostage.

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines a ' Thirty-one people, including Muslim guerrillas linked to beheadings, escaped in a jailbreak that left two people dead in the strife-torn southern Philippines on Sunday, officials said.

Zamboanga, Philippines - Security forces scoured jungle in the southern Philippines on Thursday for two factory workers held by al-Qaeda-linked militants, after the severed head of one hostage was dumped in a park.

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines: Gunmen seized 65 schoolchildren, teachers and other residents of a village in the volatile southern Philippines on Thursday, and then released 18 of them, authorities said.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - " A powerful bomb explosion early Saturday killed one person and wounded six policemen in the southern Philippine province of Sulu where security forces are battling al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

" Former Moro National Liberation Front rebel leader Nur Misuari was acquitted Wednesday of leading a rebellion in the southern Philippines.

The Australian government has advised its citizens to exercise an extreme degree of caution in the Philippines because of the high levels of terrorist threat and serious crime, said a travel advisory issued by Australia on Monday.

ZAMBOANGA CITY: A Filipino staff of the United Nations Children's Fund was reported to have been shot dead in the restive province of Maguindanao in southern Philippines, police said on Friday.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - A Filipino woman married his long-time fiance during a funeral of the man she loved for many years.

Filipino journalists light candles Saturday, November 28, 2009 after a Catholic mass led by Archbishop Romulo Valles in Zamboanga City for the souls of 57 people, among them at least 29 journalists massacred in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines.

Nine journalists among victims, authorities say BY AL JACINTO AND ISAGANI P. PALMA CORRESPONDENTS ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE: At least two dozen people who were kidnapped on Monday were found dead, many of them beheaded, in the province of Maguindanao in southern Philippines, officials said.

"We would like to sell the idea of an integrated logistics highway or corridor; one that would connect Northern and Southern Mindanao, two big economic centers in the region, that will propel Mindanao's socio-economic development," said Mr.

Reporting from Seoul and Zamboanga City, Philippines -- Authorities discovered the bodies of at least 30 people who had been kidnapped early today in the southern Philippines and called the incident politically motivated slaughter.

Unidentified gunmen abducted the captain and two crewmen of a tugboat in the southern Philippines, the coast guard said Sunday.

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines : Philippine troops have killed one of the top commanders of the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, the military said Friday.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - " Government soldiers killed an Abu Sayyaf leader implicated in kidnappings for ransom and terrorism in a clash in the restive Muslim province of Basilan, south of the Philippines, officials announced Friday.

"We are very relieved and very happy. We thank the Lord for the good news of the release of Fr.

By Catholic News Service PASAY CITY, Philippines - Irish Columban Father Michael Sinnott said he hopes to resume his ministry after being released by kidnappers who had held him for a month.

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines - Philippine police have filed charges against three suspected Muslim separatist rebels accused of kidnapping an Irish missionary priest who was freed unharmed after being held for a month in the country's volatile south, the national police chief said Saturday.

ZAMBOANGA CITY: Government troops mounted fresh operation against communist rebels who raided a logging firm and left at least three dozen people dead and wounded in Surigao del Sur province in Mindanao, officials said Friday.