June 8, 1994, Associated Press, Rebels Take Hostages, Kill 15 in Philippines,

June 8, 1994, Associated Press, Rebels Take Hostages, Kill 15 in Philippines, 

Followers of a renegade Muslim extremist waylaid a civilian convoy today, seized about 50 hostages and killed at least 15, officials said.

A wounded survivor said in a radio interview that the four gunmen killed male hostages because they were a burden as the rebels fled pursuing troops. He said he did not know what had happened to five women and a Catholic priest who were separated from the other hostages.

The attack occurred on the island of Basilan, which has no telephones.

Details were confused because different government agencies were reporting by voice radio to the Southern Command headquarters in nearby Zamboanga.

Jundam Abdula, Basilan's police chief, said armed followers of Abubakar Janjalani, leader of the Abu Sayyaf group, had stopped a convoy of a bus and two other vehicles seven miles from the town of Isabela.

Police said the gunmen seized about 50 of the 90 people in the convoy, then released all but 22.

In a radio dispatch from Basilan, Christopher Puno, spokesman for the 2nd Marine Brigade, reported that 16 hostages had been killed.

The survivor, Demetrio Abellana, conductor of one of the vehicles, did not say how many hostages were slain.

"They separated us from the women. Then we were hogtied, and then they sprayed us with automatic gunfire," said Abellana, who was hit in the leg. "I pretended to be dead."

First reports had identified the 22 hostages as Christian women teachers and a priest.

The kidnapped priest was identified as the Rev. Cirilo Nacorda. He had been assigned to a parish on Basilan as the successor to a Spanish priest, the Rev. Bernardo Blanco, who was kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf group in March 1993 but escaped two months later.

Abdula said the gunmen also were responsible for the August 1992 kidnapping of Gerald Fraszczack, a Franciscan missionary from Chicago. Fraszczack was released several months later.

Kidnappings are common in Muslim areas of the southern Philippines, since those responsible generally escape prosecution because of links to influential clans.

Troops launched a major operation last week to destroy the fundamentalist Abu Sayyaf group, responsible for many bombings and kidnappings in the south.

Fighting has centered on the island of Jolo, about 100 miles southwest of Zamboanga. Basilan is between Zamboanga and Jolo.

The kidnapping followed reports that Janjalani has been taken captive by relatives of a slain deputy seeking to collect a reward.

Lt. Gen. Orlando Soriano, chief of the Southern Command, said Janjalani was being held hostage in a village on Jolo by relatives of Radulan Sahiron, who was killed Monday during an assault on the group's hideout.