Abu Sayyaf Militants

U.S. Special Operations troops carried out a ground operation in eastern Syria aimed at capturing an Islamic State militant, U.S. officials said Monday.

Islamic terrorists who specialise in kidnapping for ransom have reported killing a German sailor and abducting her elderly male companion from their yacht off the southern Philippines, the military said on Monday.

The Philippine military says it has killed 70 Abu Sayyaf militants and captured 32 others in a major offensive that began in July against the group, which is accused of kidnapping sailors from neighboring countries for ransom.

Abu Sayyaf pocketed at least 353 million pesos ($7.3 million) from ransom kidnappings in the first six months of the year and have turned to abductions of foreign tugboat crewmen as military offensives restricted the militants' mobility, a confidential Philippine government report said.

The wife of a deceased ISIS leader was charged on Monday in federal court in Virginia with conspiracy in the death of American aid worker Kayla Mueller who was killed a year ago while being held hostage in Syria by the militant group, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Philippine troops clashed on Tuesday with Islamist militants on a remote southern island and 15 people were killed as security forces step up an offensive against rebels who beheaded a Malaysian captive, an army spokesman said.

Three foreign men and a Filipina kidnapped last month in the southern Philippines have appeared in a video posted online, making demands for the Islamic militants who abducted them.

Gunmen seized a retired Italian priest in the strife-torn southern Philippines, authorities said Today, the latest abduction blamed on an infamous Islamic militant group that specialises in kidnappings-for-ransom.

Three Islamic militants were killed after the Philippine military on Friday launched a second attempt in two weeks to rescue hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf rebels, the army said.

A Filipino village chief held hostage by Islamic militants has been found beheaded on a highway on the remote southern island of Jolo, police officials said today.

A US commando raid in Syria last month that killed a senior figure from the Islamic State group produced a wealth of information about the jihadists' finances and leadership, the New York Times reported Tuesday, citing US officials.

15 people including 10 police officers were wounded in an attack on a mosque on a remote Philippine island long plagued by militancy, officials said today.

A military assault on Islamic militants in the southern Philippines entered its fifth day today, with the toll rising to 24 guerrillas and two soldiers dead, officials said.

Another key leader of the group of several hundred militants posted video footage of himself and other gunmen last year pledging allegiance to Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq.

A powerful explosion killed at least two people and wounded 54 others in a southern Philippine port city that has been hit by similar blasts blamed on Muslim militants, police said today.

U.S. Special Operations troops carried out a ground operation in eastern Syria aimed at capturing an Islamic State militant, U.S. officials said Monday.

Islamic terrorists who specialise in kidnapping for ransom have reported killing a German sailor and abducting her elderly male companion from their yacht off the southern Philippines, the military said on Monday.

The Philippine military says it has killed 70 Abu Sayyaf militants and captured 32 others in a major offensive that began in July against the group, which is accused of kidnapping sailors from neighboring countries for ransom.

Abu Sayyaf pocketed at least 353 million pesos ($7.3 million) from ransom kidnappings in the first six months of the year and have turned to abductions of foreign tugboat crewmen as military offensives restricted the militants' mobility, a confidential Philippine government report said.

The wife of a deceased ISIS leader was charged on Monday in federal court in Virginia with conspiracy in the death of American aid worker Kayla Mueller who was killed a year ago while being held hostage in Syria by the militant group, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Philippine troops clashed on Tuesday with Islamist militants on a remote southern island and 15 people were killed as security forces step up an offensive against rebels who beheaded a Malaysian captive, an army spokesman said.

Three foreign men and a Filipina kidnapped last month in the southern Philippines have appeared in a video posted online, making demands for the Islamic militants who abducted them.

Gunmen seized a retired Italian priest in the strife-torn southern Philippines, authorities said Today, the latest abduction blamed on an infamous Islamic militant group that specialises in kidnappings-for-ransom.

Three Islamic militants were killed after the Philippine military on Friday launched a second attempt in two weeks to rescue hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf rebels, the army said.

A Filipino village chief held hostage by Islamic militants has been found beheaded on a highway on the remote southern island of Jolo, police officials said today.

A US commando raid in Syria last month that killed a senior figure from the Islamic State group produced a wealth of information about the jihadists' finances and leadership, the New York Times reported Tuesday, citing US officials.

15 people including 10 police officers were wounded in an attack on a mosque on a remote Philippine island long plagued by militancy, officials said today.

A military assault on Islamic militants in the southern Philippines entered its fifth day today, with the toll rising to 24 guerrillas and two soldiers dead, officials said.

Another key leader of the group of several hundred militants posted video footage of himself and other gunmen last year pledging allegiance to Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq.

A powerful explosion killed at least two people and wounded 54 others in a southern Philippine port city that has been hit by similar blasts blamed on Muslim militants, police said today.