Seven inmates and a prison guard were killed yesterday when a group of Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels and other detainees broke out of a prison in a southern Philippine province, officials said.
A total of 53 prisoners, including 19 Abu Sayyaf rebels, escaped the provincial jail in Isabela City, Basilan province, 900km south of Manila, according to Chief Superintendent Servando Hizon, a regional police director.
The jailbreak occurred despite heightened security in the province to guard against possible retaliatory attacks for the killing of Hamsiraji Sali, an Abu Sayyaf leader wanted by the US, on Thursday.
Sali was killed with five other Abu Sayyaf rebels in a clash with army rangers on the outskirts of Isabela City.
Hizon said breakfast was being served when Abu Sayyaf rebels suddenly seized guns from prison guards.
"The detainees, mostly Abu Sayyaf rebels, rushed up to the guards and grabbed their firearms," he said. "The guards fought back, but one of them was killed while three others were injured."
Basilan Governor Wahab Akbar said guards killed five Abu Sayyaf rebels, while two other inmates were shot dead by pursuing army rangers and policemen. Seven inmates have been recaptured, he said.
Army Colonel Raymundo Ferrer said the escaped prisoners split up into smaller groups and fled the prison area in different directions.
"Troops have been alerted to set up blockades to prevent the escapees from running further," he said.
The military has intensified offensives against the Abu Sayyaf.
Security in Basilan has been stepped up in case the guerrillas launch attacks to avenge Sali's death.
Sali was one of five Abu Sayyaf leaders wanted by the US, which offered nearly US$5 million for information leading to their arrest, killing or conviction.
He was the second of the five to be killed.
In 2002, Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya was killed in a clash at sea with Philippine troops.
Akbar said the jailbreak was led by Mubin Iba, an aide of Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, also wanted by the US.
The Abu Sayyaf is the smallest but also the most violent Muslim rebel group in the southern Philippines.
It has been tagged by Washington as a terrorist organization because of the links it is alleged to have to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
The Burmese junta has said that detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “in good health,” a day after her son said he has received little information about the 80-year-old’s condition and fears she could die without him knowing. In an interview in Tokyo earlier this week, Kim Aris said he had not heard from his mother in years and believes she is being held incommunicado in the capital, Naypyidaw. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was detained after a 2021 military coup that ousted her elected civilian government and sparked a civil war. She is serving a
REVENGE: Trump said he had the support of the Syrian government for the strikes, which took place in response to an Islamic State attack on US soldiers last week The US launched large-scale airstrikes on more than 70 targets across Syria, the Pentagon said on Friday, fulfilling US President Donald Trump’s vow to strike back after the killing of two US soldiers. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on social media. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue.” The US Central Command said that fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery targeted ISIS infrastructure and weapon sites. “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned
Seven wild Asiatic elephants were killed and a calf was injured when a high-speed passenger train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in India’s northeastern state of Assam early yesterday, local authorities said. The train driver spotted the herd of about 100 elephants and used the emergency brakes, but the train still hit some of the animals, Indian Railways spokesman Kapinjal Kishore Sharma told reporters. Five train coaches and the engine derailed following the impact, but there were no human casualties, Sharma said. Veterinarians carried out autopsies on the dead elephants, which were to be buried later in the day. The accident site
‘EAST SHIELD’: State-run Belma said it would produce up to 6 million mines to lay along Poland’s 800km eastern border, and sell excess to nations bordering Russia and Belarus Poland has decided to start producing anti-personnel mines for the first time since the Cold War, and plans to deploy them along its eastern border and might export them to Ukraine, the deputy defense minister said. Joining a broader regional shift that has seen almost all European countries bordering Russia, with the exception of Norway, announce plans to quit the global treaty banning such weapons, Poland wants to use anti-personnel mines to beef up its borders with Belarus and Russia. “We are interested in large quantities as soon as possible,” Deputy Minister of National Defense Pawel Zalewski said. The mines would be part
RSS