Artefacts recovered by US Special Forces during a raid targeting so-called 'Islamic State' in Syria have been put on display at the Baghdad National Museum.

US commandos have mounted a rare raid into eastern Syria overnight, killing a senior Islamic State commander in a firefight, capturing his wife and rescuing a Yazidi woman held as a slave, the Pentagon said.

A Swiss hostage has escaped from Abu Sayyaf extremists after more than two years of jungle captivity in the southern Philippines, officials have said.

At least seven marines and four Abu Sayyaf militants have been killed in a clash amid an offensive against al Qaida-linked gunmen accused of carrying out recent kidnappings in the country’s south, Philippine military officials said.

Al Qaida-linked militants in the Philippines are facing a new battle against fellow Muslim insurgents.

About 200 Muslim rebels led by their elusive chief have arrived in the Philippine capital for the signing of a preliminary peace pact aimed at ending one of Asia’s longest-running insurgencies.

South-east Asia’s most-wanted terrorist and two other senior militants were killed today in a US-backed air strike in the Philippines, military chiefs said.

The Philippine president has warned of a possible terrorist attack during an annual Catholic procession in Manila that may draw more than a million devotees.

Philippine authorities have captured an alleged al Qaida-linked bomber suspected over at least six attacks, including a 2002 karaoke bar explosion which killed an American Green Beret and a hotel blast that killed three people, officials said today.

Philippines security officials said today that they expect Osama bin Laden’s death to weaken local Islamic extremists and eventually lead to their end.

A top Indonesian al Qaida operative wanted for the 2002 Bali bombings has been arrested in Pakistan, foreign intelligence sources said today.

The US and Australia today warned of possible terrorist attacks in Manila and the southern Philippines, sparking a security alarm in the bustling capital with additional deployments of police patrols and intelligence agents.

Philippine police commandos have killed an Abu Sayyaf commander linked to last year’s kidnapping of Red Cross workers and gunned down two other militants in a clash that erupted while they were looking for a Malaysian militant.

Al-Qaida-linked militants beheaded three loggers in the Philippines in apparent retaliation for government offensives in the country’s south, security officials said today.

An 80-year-old Irish priest who was kidnapped and held hostage for a month in the southern Philippines has returned to the country and says he wants to resume his missionary work.

GUNMEN in the Philippines have kidnapped three more people, raising renewed fears for the safety of abducted Irish priest Fr Michael Sinnott.

The Philippine government today asked a large Muslim rebel group to help secure the freedom of an ailing Irish priest kidnapped by outlaws, as troops surrounded a jungle logging area where he was being held.

An ailing 79-year-old Irish missionary dragged away at gunpoint from his southern Philippine residence is probably in the hands of Muslim militants seeking a ransom, officials said today.

Fears were growing today for the health of an elderly Irish missionary who was dramatically kidnapped in the Philippines by armed raiders who burst into his home.

Philippine troops suffered one of their worst losses in an offensive against al Qaida-linked militants on a southern island that left at least 23 soldiers and 20 guerrillas dead, officials said today.

A home-made bomb planted by suspected Muslim rebels exploded prematurely in a market in the southern Philippines today, killing a would-be attacker and wounding 15 civilians, officials said.

Suspected al-Qaida-linked militants killed seven policemen in an ambush today after their comrades shot to death two government soldiers in a separate attack in the southern Philippines, security officials said.

A bomb-rigged motorcycle exploded today near a convoy carrying the governor of a southern Philippine island where al-Qaida-linked rebels are active, wounding a mayor and at least three security escorts.

Philippine police have identified at least three people who may have kidnapped three Red Cross workers last week then turned them over to al Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf gunmen on violent Jolo Island.

The Philippine military says fierce fighting has erupted between troops and Muslim militants on two southern islands, leaving at least five soldiers dead and scores wounded.

American and Philippine experts began DNA tests today to determine whether remains found in a jungle grave are of an elusive terror suspect in the 2002 Bali bombings who authorities believe was killed in a clash with US-backed troops.

At least seven civilians, including four children, and an off-duty soldier were killed during a military operation against al-Qaida-linked militants on a southern Philippine island, officials said today.

A politician killed in a bomb blast outside the Philippines congress may have been targeted by al-Qaida after double crossing them, it emerged today.

A congressman killed in a bomb blast outside the Philippine legislature was a former member of an al-Qaida-linked militant group who switched sides to support a US-backed offensive against them, police said today.

Clashes between troops and suspected al-Qaida linked militants have killed at least 52 people on volatile southern Jolo island, the Philippines military said today.

Troops in the Philippines captured three al Qaida-linked militants but missed two top terror suspects, including an Indonesian wanted for alleged involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings, during a raid on a rebel hide-out today, military officials said.

A top al-Qaida-linked militant, long wanted by the US and Philippine authorities for deadly terror attacks, has been killed in a clash with troops in a major blow to his brutal rebel group, the military said today.

Security forces tried to disrupt plots by al Qaida-linked militants to stage attacks but failed to track them, setting off an alarm that influenced a decision to postpone a pair of Asian summits, officials said today.

GUNBATTLES between al-Qaida-linked guerrillas and the Philippine military in the south killed at least one marine and wounded 24 troops, the military said yesterday, as the country’s president said the government was on the verge of wiping out the militants.

Gunbattles between al-Qaida-linked guerrillas and the Filipino military in the south of the country killed at least one marine and wounded 24 troops, the military said today, as the country’s president said the government was on the verge of wiping out the militants.

CHRISTIAN pilgrims, their numbers swollen by improved Israeli-Palestinian relations, retraced Jesus’s path toward crucifixion along the cobblestone alleys of Jerusalem’s walled Old City in the annual Good Friday procession.

Police fired a barrage of tear-gas canisters and bullets today in a major assault on Muslim suspects who took over a maximum-security jail in Manila, killing at least 17 of them, officials said.

A trio of bombs jolted the Philippines today, killing at least three people and injuring at least 16 others.

Hundreds of followers of a jailed former Muslim rebel leader battled government troops for a second day today on the Philippines’ southern Jolo island, in clashes that have killed 14 soldiers and wounded 16 others.

An American missionary held hostage by Muslim extremists for 377 days has returned to the Philippines under tight security to testify against her abductors.

A terrorist bombing on the scale of the Madrid attacks was averted in the Philippines with the arrests of four Abu Sayyaf members and the confiscation of 380 pounds of TNT, the president said in Manila.

A bomb exploded today at a crowded market, killing at least 13 people, in the latest deadly attack in the southern Philippines, officials said.

The death toll from a Christmas Eve bomb attack outside the home of the Mayor of a town in the southern Philippines rose to 16 today, as authorities searched for clues in the blast.

TWO bombs exploded yesterday in the southern Philippines city of Zamboanga, killing six people and injuring at least 144.