Loggers beheaded by militants

Al Qaida-linked militants beheaded three loggers in the Philippines in apparent retaliation for government offensives in the country's south, security officials said today.

The killings were carried out as the country celebrated its 112th Independence Day, the latest in a series of terror acts by the Abu Sayyaf insurgency to mark the holiday.

About 30 Abu Sayyaf gunmen confronted the three Christian men as they hauled timber in a rain forest near Maluso town on Basilan island yesterday.

Relatives found their remains hours later, Basilan provincial police chief Antonio Mendoza said.

The latest killings were apparently a retaliation for the ongoing military and police operations, which have killed a number of militants, Mr Mendoza said.

"When they are hurt by our offensives, they resort to these atrocities," Mr Mendoza told reporters, adding that all of Basilan's 675-strong police force, with an additional 100 police commandos, were involved in the manhunt and assaults against the militants. Hundreds of soldiers also took part.

This was the second time that Abu Sayyaf was blamed for beheading a hostage on Independence Day after they killed American Guillermo Sobero in 2001 as their holiday "gift" to president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Another American was killed in a military rescue a year later.

Despite years of US-backed offensives, nearly 400 Abu Sayyaf fighters have survived in Basilan and on nearby Jolo island and the Zamboanga peninsula. They remain a major security concern as part of a decades-long Muslim insurgency.

The Abu Sayyaf, founded in Basilan in 1991, is believed by US and Philippine security officials to have received funds and training from Osama bin Laden's network.

Its, Puruji Indama, led the group behind Saturday's beheadings, Mr Mendoza said. A search for Indama and his men was under way in the jungles near Maluso, which is near Sumisip township - scene of most military and police operations against the Abu Sayyaf in recent weeks, he said.