Philippines hostage death toll rises to four

The hostage death toll has reportedly risen to four in the southern Philippine after government troops stumbled upon Muslim rebels trying to cross a stream with their captives in Basilan.

Troops screamed at the hostages to get down, then opened fire. Fifteen other hostages of the original 27 were rescued, including children and teachers. Military sources said still others were taken by the fleeing guerrillas.

Meanwhile, on neighbouring Jolo island, rebel leaders who are holding a separate group of 21 hostages said two of their foreign captives died during a pre-dawn clash with troops. But military officials said they had no knowledge that any of the hostages - who include 10 foreign tourists - had been killed. They said the claim may have been propaganda by the extremist Abu Sayyaf rebels.

The two clashes came during a chaotic day of fighting and fatal bombings in the southern Philippines. They were the latest development in a standoff that began in March and intensified 10 days ago with the seizure of hostages from a Malaysian resort. The day ended with murky casualty reports and efforts by officials to sort out exactly what happened.

In Basilan, officials said the dead included a priest, two female teachers and a male teacher. It was unclear who killed them.

Another priest who saw the four bodies at a funeral home later in the day said they had been shot at close range in the head. Several had apparently been hacked on their bodies and arms, the Rev. Martin Jumoad said.

Five of the 15 rescued hostages were wounded, one seriously, military officials said. They were taken by helicopter to a military hospital.

The 27 Basilan hostages, who included 22 children, were among about 50 seized by Abu Sayyaf rebels on March 20 for use as human shields. The rebels later released some captives, but they claimed two weeks ago to have beheaded two adults, triggering a military assault on their stronghold.

Troops overran the stronghold over the weekend but failed to find the captives. The rescued hostages said they were taken from the camp on Saturday and forced to walk each night through forest trails.

The soldiers happened upon the rebels at a river crossing Wednesday and shouted to the hostages, "drop to the ground and don't run away," said Regardo Gregorio, one of the rescued children. He said the hostages dropped and the soldiers began firing.

Wednesday's clash on Jolo, meanwhile, apparently occurred when the 21 hostages there were being transferred to another location, officials said. Troops seized the bamboo hut where the hostages had been held, but found no one inside. No bloodstains were evident inside the hut, and medicines brought by a doctor on Monday were left behind, police said.

Commander Robot, an Abu Sayyaf leader, claimed in a telephone interview with the local ABS-CBN radio network that one hostage was accidentally shot in fighting with Philippine troops and another died of a heart attack. He apologized to their families and said it was not the rebels' doing. Another rebel leader, Abu Escobar, later repeated the claim in a call to another radio station.

Nur Misuari, the government's hostage negotiator, said he had conflicting reports about whether the two hostages were dead or only injured. He urged a halt to the government's military operations in the area.

Escobar said the rebels would proceed with a previous threat to behead two foreign hostages if the military does not pull back. He said the troops had moved so close to the rebel hide-out that the kidnappers could see them.

But Col. Ernesto de Guzman, chief of staff of the military's Southern Command, said the overnight fighting was very far from where the Jolo hostages are believed to be held and that the troops would stay put. "We will not move in and we will not move out," he said.

At least two soldiers have been killed and six injured in the fighting, officials said.

The Jolo hostages include tourists from Germany, France, South Africa, Finland and Lebanon as well as resort workers from the Philippines and Malaysia. Journalists who accompanied a doctor to the bamboo hut on Monday were able to interview the hostages, who complained of food shortages, fevers and infections. The doctor said she told the rebels that two captives need to be hospitalized, but the rebels did not immediately agree.

The Abu Sayyaf is the smaller of two groups fighting for a separate Islamic state in the Philippines' impoverished Mindanao region, home of the country's Muslim minority.

Elsewhere in the southern Philippines, the larger group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, claimed responsibility for several bomb explosions that killed at least four and injured dozens.

A bomb concealed with plastic exploded in the General Santos fish port, killing two people and seriously injuring at least 20, Mayor Adelbert Antonino said. Almost simultaneously, a bomb inside a taxi exploded in front of a municipal building, killing one woman, and a bomb outside a second city building killed one man and injured 10, he said. Police and military officials also reported explosions in Cotabato, Zamboanga del Sur and Maguindanao.

The government and the MILF began formal peace talks this year, but clashes have escalated since last Friday.