ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine troops killed 12 Abu Sayyaf militants in clashes as they pressed an offensive in a southern province where the extremists have been blamed for the deadly...

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine court on Friday found 66 alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf guilty of kidnapping dozens of students, teachers and a Catholic priest in the south in 2000, in the largest single conviction involving the brutal Muslim militant group.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Criminal complaints have been filed against 43 Muslim militants from two armed groups linked to the Islamic State group for two bomb attacks in the southern Philippines, including a suspected suicide bombing that killed 11 people, police said Monday.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military said Saturday it is checking intelligence reports that a Middle East-educated commander of the Abu Sayyaf extremist group has died after being wounded in an artillery strike in the south.

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) — A senior commander of the Abu Sayyaf extremist group blamed for bombings and kidnappings has surrendered in the southern Philippines, the defense chief said Thursday, expressing hope it would bring the "eventual collapse" of a key militant stronghold.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian police said Thursday they have arrested seven Filipinos believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf militant group, as part of a crackdown on suspected terrorists in the country.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Two Indonesians who escaped from Abu Sayyaf militants after 10 months of captivity were recovered by Philippine troops Thursday, officials said.

Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said soldiers intercepted the two men who were on board a vehicle in Indanan town in southern Sulu province.

There was no mention of any injuries but they were brought to hospital for medical examination and will also undergo debriefing by the military.

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine officials say Abu Sayyaf militant gunmen have killed at least nine people and wounded 16 others in a dawn attack in a remote village in the country's restive south.

Military officials say about 20 Abu Sayyaf gunmen opened fire on villagers and burned five houses and a village hall in the attack early Monday in Tubigan village in Maluso town on Basilan island. The attackers fled and were being pursued by troops.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Officials say Philippine troops attempting to rescue hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf clashed with the militants, leaving two soldiers and five gunmen dead.

Provincial commander Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana says troops encounter around 30 gunmen early Thursday in southern Sulu province. He says soldiers were trying to rescue 23 hostages, including 15 foreigners, amid unconfirmed rumors their captors have threatened to behead some of them.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine marines have killed an Abu Sayyaf extremist commander and a notorious kidnapper who had sailed across the sea border into Malaysia to snatch tourists and sailors for ransom, the military chief said Saturday.

CEBU, Philippines (AP) — After a massive manhunt, Philippine forces killed at least four suspected Muslim militants Saturday in a central resort province where troops had foiled possible kidnapping and bombing plots by extremists earlier this month, officials said.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte offered a bounty Wednesday for the capture of Muslim extremists behind a foiled attack on a central resort island, and said he ordered the navy to bomb militants who travel by boat in search of kidnap victims.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — More than 200 delegates from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will proceed with a meeting in a central Philippine resort province this week despite a foiled attack there by Muslim extremists, officials said Monday.

Acting Interior Secretary Catalino Cuy said that Panglao Island in Bohol province could be considered "the most secure place in the country right now." The two-day ASEAN trade meeting on the island starts Wednesday.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines military said Monday they have rescued three more Malaysian tugboat crewmen held hostage by Muslim militants for eight months in the south of the country.

A brief military report said troops rescued Zulkipli Bin Ali, Mohammad Ridzuan Bin Ismail and Fandy Bin Bakran late Sunday in southern Sulu province. They were taken to a hospital for check-ups.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia's counterterrorism squad says it has arrested four suspected Islamic militants who were trying to establish a jihadist training camp in eastern Indonesia and who likely had links with Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines.

National Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said the men were arrested in several locations on the island of Java on Thursday and were connected to four militants ambushed by police on the same day near Jakarta.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A German hostage says Abu Sayyaf militants are threatening to behead him if a ransom is not paid within 12 days to the group holding him in the jungles of the southern Philippines.

Jurgen Gustav Kantner, who also was kidnapped by Somali pirates years ago, tearfully spoke about the threat by Abu Sayyaf militants and the Feb. 26 ransom deadline in a video circulated Tuesday by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Three Filipino soldiers were killed and 17 others wounded in nearly two hours of fighting with about 150 Muslim militants in the south, the military said Sunday.

The Abu Sayyaf gunmen withdrew after the fierce clash on Saturday in the mountains of Patikul town in Sulu province, and are being pursued by government forces, said regional military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Fierce clashes erupted Friday between government troops and Muslim extremists in southern Philippines, leaving at least 14 combatants dead, the military said.

The dead included 10 Abu Sayyaf rebels, although troops recovered only three bodies, said military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan.

Four were killed and nine wounded on the government side, he said.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants attacked a Vietnamese cargo ship and kidnapped its captain and five crewmen off the southern Philippine island of Basilan early Friday, in the latest in a wave of sea assaults that have alarmed the region's leaders.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military is trying to verify a claim by Abu Sayyaf militants that they have kidnapped a German man from a yacht and shot and killed his girlfriend in the southern Philippines, a military spokesman said Monday.

Regional military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan said Abu Sayyaf spokesman Muamar Askali had claimed the militants kidnapped Juegen Kantner and killed his companion while the couple were cruising off neighboring Malaysia.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Muslim rebel leader emerged Thursday from three years of hiding in the southern Philippines to meet the president, who has reached out to him as part of efforts to tame a decadeslong Muslim rebellion.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will discuss possible joint military and police operations with Malaysia to quell Abu Sayyaf militant kidnappings of sailors along the countries' sea border, saying that the brazen attacks have paralyzed trade and commerce.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military said Tuesday it has killed 70 Abu Sayyaf militants and captured 32 others in an offensive that began in July against the group, which is accused of kidnapping sailors from neighboring countries for ransom.

Military spokesman Col. Edgard Arevalo said 28 government troops have died and nearly 100 others have been wounded in one of the largest military campaigns against the brutal militants in the southern island provinces of Sulu and Basilan.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants have abducted a South Korean skipper and a Filipino crewman from a South Korean cargo ship in the latest such attacks that have sparked a security alarm in the busy regional sealanes, military officials said Friday.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Three Indonesian hostages have been released in the southern Philippines after being held by their Abu Sayyaf captors for more than three months, Indonesia's foreign minister said Sunday.