Five gunmen abduct priest as he takes evening stroll

A 79-YEAR-OLD Irish priest has been kidnapped in a southern region of the Philippines after he was bundled into the back of pickup truck.

Father Michael Sinnott, from Barntown in Co Wexford, was taken by up to five gunmen who stormed his residence near the southern city of Pagadian on the island of Mindanao.

Regional police commander Chief Superintendent Angelo Sumlao said the gunmen took Fr Sinnott to a waiting pick-up truck, which was later found abandoned and torched in a coastal area.