Kapatagan - Philippine troops rescued 13 Filipino hostages yesterday and killed several Muslim Abu Sayyaf kidnappers in a pre-dawn raid in southern Basilan island, the military said.
Under cover of darkness, army troops attacked an Abu Sayyaf camp on the outskirts of Basilan's capital, Isabela at 2.30 a.m. The hostages, eight of them children, were abandoned by the fleeing rebels. The freed hostages were among 35 people seized by the Abu Sayyaf in a raid last Thursday. Five of the hostages were found beheaded on Friday, while five other bodies were recovered on Saturday.