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Rebels Claim Three Philippine Government Soldiers Beheaded
Philippines' extremist Muslim group Abu Sayyaf claimed on Sunday that they had beheaded three government soldiers captured two days ago on the southern island of Jolo.
Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya told a radio station in the southern city of Zamboanga that the three were among 16 soldiers killed in clashes between the group and government troops in Jolo on Friday, the ABS-CBN news channel reported.
But it said army area commander Major-General Narciso Abaya dismissed the Abu Sayyaf claim. "If there is such a report, we cannot hide it," Abaya was quoted as saying.
The Abu Sayyaf drew international attention last year when it went on a kidnapping spree in which more than 40 foreigners and Filipinos were abducted from neighboring Malaysia's island resorts and from Jolo.
Two hostages, one American and one Filipino, still remain in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf. The rest of the hostages have either been released after huge ransoms were reportedly paid, or escaped or rescued in a military offensive against the rebels in September last year.
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