Fifth Philippines hostage beheaded

The military is trying to rescue the hostages

Suspected Muslim guerrillas in the Philippines have beheaded a fifth hostage in less than 48 hours, a military official said on Saturday.

Abu Sayyaf militants raided a village on the island of Basilan on Thursday, taking at least 20 hostages and later beheading four.

This cannot divert us from our main objective in crushing the group

Lieutenant General Jose Camiling

At least three of those seized managed to escape.

The Abu Sayyaf group in Basilan is still holding around 20 people captured during raids in May, including two Americans taken from a luxury beach resort.

A freed hostage communicated a demand from the Abu Sayyaf that the government stop its operation against the militants, a military source said.

But Lieutenant General Jose Camiling rejected the demand.

"This cannot divert us from our main objective in crushing the group," he said.

Kidnapping campaign

On Friday afternoon, police recovered a beheaded corpse near the town of Limook, some hours after four beheaded corpses were found near the village that was raided on Thursday.

Family members identified the corpses as being of people kidnapped in the raid.

A local radio station quoted one of the victims as saying that the kidnappers had released him and some other hostages, only to begin hunting them with the purpose of beheading those they re-captured.

Abu Sayyaf rebels are based in the Sulu islands

The Abu Sayyaf say they are fighting for independence for the Muslim minority in the south of the mainly Christian Philippines.

And last week they threatened to retaliate against Christians after the government detained about 100 suspected sympathisers of the movement.

But the BBC's John McLean in Manila says their principal occupation appears to be kidnapping for ransom.

Kidnaps and killings

They have abducted dozens of people since May, and even before the latest kidnappings had already killed at least four hostages.

They are still holding an American missionary couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham.

They say they have beheaded a third US man, Guillermo Sobero, but his body has never been found.

The Philippine military has been conducting a so far fruitless campaign to free the hostages.