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.

Three suspected Muslim separatist rebels have been charged in connection with the kidnapping of an Irish priest in the Philippines, the national police chief said today.

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 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.

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.

Philippine security officials raised the terror alert to the highest level in two southern regions, including one where authorities foiled a bomb attack on a national athletic event, due to the threat of bombings, police 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.

An explosion inside a grocery shop killed at least eight people and wounded about a dozen others today on a violent southern island in the Philippines.

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.

Philippines military leaders have given officials five days to negotiate the safe release of four female Jehovah's Witnesses being held hostage on an island.

MUSLIM extremists linked to al-Qaida beheaded two of six Jehovah’s Witnesses they kidnapped in the southern Philippines and dumped their heads in a public market.

Muslim extremists beheaded at least two of six Jehovah’s Witnesses they kidnapped in the southern Philippines and dumped their heads in a public market, authorities said today.

Eight people selling Avon cosmetics door to door have been kidnapped by suspected guerillas on a remote island in the southern Philippines.

Helicopter gunships have fired rockets and troops bombed a suspected Muslim guerrilla camp killing at least 20 rebels in the Philippines.

Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines are seeking guarantees of a safe passage in exchange for 81 hostages.

Up to 20 people, including foreign tourists, have been taken hostage by armed men from a Philippine island resort.

Philippine troops have captured 13 Muslim guerrillas in an attempt to rescue a US hostage they have been holding since last August.

A Philippines Muslim rebel leader has offered to kill an ailing US hostage if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein asks him to.

An American hostage held by Muslim terrorists in the Philippines is seriously ill, a spokesman for the rebel Abu Sayyaf group said today.