Philippines/Terrorism: Seven people injured in grenade blast in Iligan

Philippine Police stated that seven people have been injured when a grenade exploded at a market in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte province, early on Friday.

Senior Superintendent Bernardo Reamon, the Police Chief in Iligan, stated that the hand grenade was lobbed around 3:45 a.m. (local time) near the Palao Market in the city and that the injured persons, who have yet to be identified, were immediately rushed to a hospital for treatment.

No information was released whether the attack was attributed to the members of the militant secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front and no group has claimed responsibility for it so far.

Philippines/Insurgency: Two troops killed in clash with communist rebels

Philippine Military Officials stated that two government militiamen were killed and several others were wounded in a clash between government troops and communist rebels in New Corella town in Davao Del Norte province on Tuesday.

Army Division Spokesman said the troops went to the area after villagers complained that a group of about 30 guerrillas were extorting cash from them. According to him, the rebels detonated three bombs as they fled the area, killing the two militiamen.

Commander of the Army's 103rd Infantry Brigade said several soldiers were wounded in the gun battle with suspected New People’s Army rebels.

 

Philippines/Terrorism:  Bomb blast kills one, injures four in Maguindanao

Media reported that a seven-year-old boy was killed and four others wounded when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded in Datu Piang town (Maguindanao province), 930 kilometres south of Manila late on Monday.

According to the Provincial Police Chief Alex Lineses, the IED was placed inside a backpack left in front of a police outpost near the town hall.

The child, identified as Moktar Masdal was declared dead on arrival at Cotabato Regional and Medical Center.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and the motive is still being investigated.

Philippines/Insurgency: Maoist guerrillas kill seven troops in Bontoc

Philippine Military Officials stated that seven soldiers including an officer of the 54th Infantry Batallion have been killed in a gunbattle with Maoist guerrillas in Bontoc town in Mountain Province of Philippines Friday morning.

Colonel Eliseo Posadas said the troops were leaving a poor community where they had met village leaders for a medical mission when they were ambushed by dozens of rebels.

Posadas said the guerrillas took the assault rifles of the dead soldiers before leaving the battle site. Meanwhile, authorities have launched pursuit operations against the attackers.

 

 

Philippines/Insurgency: Chinese captive rescued in Jolo Island

Philippine's Police Chief announced on Tuesday that the commandos have rescued a Chinese national held captive for about 18 months by a group of terrorists on a remote southern Island of Jolo on Monday.

Police Chief said that Chinese national Wu Xili, also known as Peter Go was rescued unharmed after a firefight between Security Forces and dozens of Abu Sayyaf terrorists on the Island.

According to him, troops recovered a cache of weapons, including a light machinegun and rocket-propelled grenades.

Reportedly, Wu was the last remaining foreign captive held by Abu Sayyaf, a small Muslim rebel group with links to Al-Qaeda and the Indonesian group Jemaah Islamiah.

Philippines/Insurgency: Two soldiers killed and one injured in rebel attack
 
Spokesman of the Philippines army reported that two soldiers were killed and another one injured by suspected New People’s Army rebels in the ambush occurred in the Sampaloc town of Quezon province, southeast of Manila, on Wednesday.

The ambush resulted into a brief gun battle and military officials have claimed that some of the guerrillas were injured.

Reportedly, the soldiers were on their way back to their base from a meeting with community leaders in the village of Mamala. The gunmen ambushed the troops, burned the military vehicle and seized two M26 rifles.

The country has been witnessing communist fighters and its rebellion since the late 1960s.

Philippines/Insurgency: Witness of massacre case shot dead

Media reported that Suwaib Upham, a key witness to the massacre of 57 people in the southern Philippines last year has been shot dead in Parang on June 14.

Asian Director of Human Rights Watch said that Upham has been requesting to be admitted to the government’s Witness Protection Program (WPP) for over three months.

Upham had agreed to testify against members of the Ampatuan clan, who are among the nearly 200 people that have been charged with the murders on the southern island of Mindanao.

Presidential Spokesman stated that they have directed Security Forces to take all necessary measures to apprehend the perpetrators, utilising all the special powers available under the state of emergency that the president declared and continue to maintain in the province.

On November 23 last year, 57 people including 30 journalists were killed after they were stopped at a checkpoint in Maguindanao province. Among those who charged in the mass killing is Andal Ampatuan, the head of the powerful Ampatuan family, which controlled local politics and ran a private army in the province.

Philippines/Terrorism: gunmen kill four commuters in Basilan

Philippine Police reported that suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorists opened a fire on Wednesday on a public transport in Maluso, district of Basilan, killing four people and injuring two others.

Police Chief said that most of the victims were commuters in a passenger jeep going home from Basilan's capital of Isabela City. Among the injured there was also a 10-year old boy.

Military Forces have been dispatched to hunt down more than two dozen assailants who were behind the ambush in Maluso town. The attackers fled after the ambush.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Maluso town is a known lair of Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels blamed for past attacks on civilian and military targets.

 

Philippines/ United States/Insurgency: US urge Manila to prosecute killers of journalists

Media reported that after a third reporter was murdered at the weekend, the United States on Monday urged the Philippines to prosecute the killers of journalists and to bring those responsible to justice.

Philippine Police said on Sunday that unidentified gunmen shot and killed a 50-year-old newspaper reporter in Digos City of Davao del Sur province on Saturday evening.

Nestor Bedolido was the third journalist who was murdered over the past week in the Philippines.

Last week, two other journalists were shot dead in separate attacks. The Philippines is considered one of the less secured places for journalists in the world.

Philippines/Insurgency:  Four soldiers wounded in clash with communist guerrillas

Fighting between Philippine army soldiers and communist guerrillas in Negros Oriental province on Friday left four solders wounded, an army brigade commander said.

According to the source, the clash broke out when troops on patrol encountered the guerrillas in a remote village in Guihulngan town in Negros Oriental province, 570 kilometres south of Manila.

Earlier on Thursday police reported that one of the alleged kidnappers of elderly Filipino-Swiss national Charlie Rieth was killed in Zamboanga City late Wednesday. Reith was rescued by security forces on Tuesday.

Reith, 72, was abducted on April 4 by a group of bandits with ties to either Abu Sayyaf or Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels operating in the Zamboanga peninsula.

Philippines/Insurgency: Five rebels killed in encounter

Philippine Police Spokesman reported that police gunned down five communist rebels in an encounter in Cateel town of Davao Oriental province in the southern Philippines on Friday.

Police Chief stated that the gun battle erupted when about 50 rebels aboard two trucks raided a police outpost.

According to the statement, three policemen were wounded in the fighting.

In a separate incident, four soldiers were wounded in a clash with communist rebels in Guihulngan town in Negros Oriental province, 570 kilometres south of Manila.

The wounded soldiers have been admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment while more troops were dispatched to the area to pursue the rebels.

Philippines/Insurgency: Another journalist killed by gunmen in Ilocos Norte

Unidentified gunmen on motorcycle shot dead a radio broadcaster on his way home in the northern Philippines, the second journalist murdered in the country in less then 24 hours, police said on Wednesday.

According to police, Joselito Agustin, 37, a radio reporter in Laoag City in northern Ilocos Norte province, was shot four times late Tuesday. Agustin died in a hospital before dawn on Wednesday, while his nephew was slightly hurt.

Tuesday's attack came less than 24 hours after a lone gunman shot dead a radio commentator in Davao Oriental province. Jessie Camangyan, 52, was hosting an amateur singing contest in Macopa village in Manay town, Davao Oriental when he was shot twice from behind by a gunman.

Meanwhile, military and local government officials stated that Philippine security forces rescued Charlie Reith, a Swiss-born businessman from gunmen holding him for more than two months in a remote southern province. Reith, 72, was abducted on April 4 by a group of bandits with ties to either Abu Sayyaf or Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels operating in the Zamboanga peninsula. The kidnappers initially demanded 50 million pesos ($1.08 million) for his release, but lowered it to 20 million pesos.

Philippines/Insurgency:  radio commentator shot dead in Davao 

Unidentified gunman shot dead a radio commentator in Davao Oriental province late on Monday, police said on Tuesday.

According to police, Jessie Camangyan, 52, was hosting an amateur singing contest in Macopa village in Manay town, Davao Oriental when he was shot twice from behind by a lone gunman at around 10:30 p.m. (local time).

A  spokesman of the Davao regional police office, said a task group has been formed to identify the gunman and the motive for the journalist's killing.

Reportedly, Camangyan is the third radio commentator in the southern island of Mindanao to be killed this year.

Philippines/Terrorism: Terrorists behead three Filipino loggers

Media reported that members of Aby Sayyaf terrorist group kidnapped and beheaded three Filipino loggers in the southern part of the country.

According to the police, about 30 Abu Sayyaf terrorists came across the three loggers, who where hauling timber in the forests of Maluso.

Military spokesman said the decapitated bodies of the three loggers from Sumisip, a town in Basilan Province, were discovered on Saturday.

A military operation has been launched to nab the terrorists. Abu Sayyaf, who has links to Al-Qaeda is a terrorist group that seeks to create an Islamic state in the south of the Philippines.

 

Philippines /Terrorism: rebels signed deal to sustain peace talks

Philippines government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim rebel group, on Thursday signed a deal to carry on peace talks.

A Philippine Foreign Affairs Ministry official stated that the deal was signed by government and MILF representatives with a target to stop further deterioration of security situation in the country and to abstain violence during the political transition.

The term of the current government ends on June 30, and early next week Benigno Aquino III will be officially proclaimed as the country's next president. The agreement followed two days of peace talks in Kuala Lumpur, and both parties stated that they would continue efforts to reach a political settlement.

Philippines/Insurgency: three communist rebels killed in clash in Zambales

Clashes between police and New People’s Army guerrillas left at least three rebels killed and a police officer injured in Zambales province early on Wednesday, officials said.

Philippine National Police spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina stated that a police unit clashed with 30 guerrillas in the village of Malabon in Candelaria town at around 7 a.m. local time. Police seized two firearms, ammunition, food supplies and subversive documents from the rebels.

According to police officials, one policeman was wounded in the fighting. Meanwhile, additional troops have been sent in the area to pursuit operations against the guerrillas.

Philippines/Civil unrest: four soldiers killed in communist rebel attack in Camarines Sur

Philippine army stated on Monday that four soldiers have been killed and four others wounded in an attack by leftist New People's Army rebels in the northern Philippine province of Camarines Sur on Sunday.

Major Harold Cabunoc, a spokesman of the Philippine Army, said the troops were ambushed in Presentacion town in Camarines Sur province, 255 kilometres south-east of Manila. According to the source, the rebels threw grenades and opened fire at the soldiers as they were approaching a steep terrain.

Reportedly, the attack came as the troops were pursuing a group of guerrillas who had earlier killed a soldier in an attack on an army. Meanwhile, additional troops have been deployed in the area.

Philippines/Insurgency: Abu Sayyaf seized three men in Basilan province

Suspected members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf kidnapped three people in the southern Philippines, a provincial police chief said Thursday.

Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Police Regional Office stated that about 30 armed men blocked a minibus in Sumisip town in Basilan province and abducted three of its passengers.

According to police, one of the abducted men as Claudio Mananita, an employee of a local cooperative in the area. The identities of the two other victims were yet to be confirmed.

A senior police official said the kidnappers sent a mobile phone message to the mother of one of the victims demanding 1 million pesos (21,000 dollars) in ransom. Meanwhile, government troops have launched operations to rescue the hostages.

Philippines/Insurgency: five killed as communist rebels attack in Banaybanay town

Philippine military announced that a clash between suspected New People's Army (NPA) rebels and Army troops left five people dead and 8 others in Banaybanay town, Davao Oriental province on Monday.

Military spokesman Captain Emmanuel Garcia, said the rebels on board 2 trucks ambushed the soldiers securing the Mati-Tagum highway construction in Barangay Maputi around noon. According to the spokesman, three soldiers were killed and four others were wounded.

Meanwhile, joint Army and police teams have launched search operations against the rebels. Earlier on Saturday, the NPA killed three soldiers in an ambush outside Davao city. The Maoist-inspired NPA has been waging an insurgency since 1969 that has claimed thousands of lives.

Philippines/Insurgency: rebels ambushed election team, six dead

At least six people have been killed and 17 others wounded when Maoist guerrillas ambushed an election convoy of civilians and soldiers guarding ballot documents in southern Philippines on Tuesday, security officials said.

Army spokesman reported that rebels belonging to the New People's Army (NPA) opened fire on the convoy as it was heading to a polling centre in the restive Mindanao region, where ballots of Monday's general elections were to be counted.

According to security officials, among the dead was a member of the Board of Election Inspectors and a civilian poll watcher and two government security officers and soldiers.

Last Friday, NPA guerrillas also attacked two government soldiers guarding automated vote-counting machines in the town of Taguibo Mati in the Davao Oriental province.