Philippine troops attack hostage hide-out

Some hostages were released last week

By John McLean in Manila

Philippine military forces have begun an operation to rescue more than two dozen hostages held by a Muslim separatist guerrilla group, the Abu Sayyaf.

No reliable details were immediately available about the progress of the operation or the fate of the hostages who were mostly children.

The attack on the Abu Sayyaf hide-out in the southern Philippines comes three days after the guerrillas announced that they had beheaded two of their 29 hostages.

The Philippine armed forces chief of staff confirmed the military operation but gave no further details.

Attack

Previously a spokesman for the guerrillas had told a radio station in the southern Philippines that military forces had attacked the Abu Sayyaf camp with mortars, helicopters and aeroplane.

The Abu Sayyaf said they beheaded two hostages

The Abu Sayyaf spokesman said 200 government soldiers had been killed and that none of the hostages had been freed.

The chief of staff denied that his troops had suffered any casualties.

The Abu Sayyaf says it beheaded the two hostages because the government had rejected its demands.

Demand

Among the demands were the release of three Muslims jailed in the United States including Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted of trying to blow up the World Trade Centre in New York in 1993.

The Abu Sayyaf is a minor Muslim separatist guerrilla group.

Its activities are usually limited to the small southern island of Basilan.

The hostages were abducted last month after an unsuccessful Abu Sayyaf raid on a Basilan military outpost.