Gunmen massacre Philippines villagers

The military drove the attackers away

By BBC correspondent John McLean in Manila

Gunmen in the Philippines have killed 10 villagers on the southern island of Mindanao, the military say.

Soldiers and police officers said armed men opened fire on villagers in the municipality of Naga, 780 km (480 miles) south of the capital, Manila.

A number of the villagers were killed on the spot.

Soldiers, including local militiamen, came to the rescue, fighting back and drove the attackers away, but as the attackers fled they abducted some of the villagers.

One of the attackers was killed by security forces, the authorities say.

The captured civilians were later found dead.

Bandits

Incidents like this are not uncommon in the region - the southern and western parts of Mindanao are infested with gunmen.

Some belong to various guerrilla groups who say they are fighting for independence for the Muslim minority in the south of this mainly Christian country.

Some are just gangs of ordinary bandits. Many are both bandits and Muslim separatist guerrillas.

The most notorious of these armed groups is the Abu Sayyaf.

Their main occupation is simply kidnapping for ransom, but - because the Abu Sayyaf say that they are Muslim separatists and because they once had links with Osama Bin Laden - the United States regards them as international terrorists.