Scores of suspected Islamist militants stormed a jail and freed at least 31 prisoners in the volatile southern Philippines today.
Seventy heavily armed men cut through padlocks with boltcutters after destroying a concrete wall at the provincial jail in Isabela city. One attacker and a jail guard died in the raid.
The escaped prisoners included five militants from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a large rebel group engaged in peace talks with the government, and 12 from the smaller, more violent Abu Sayyaf group, which has been linked to al-Qaida, a military official said.
"All these are high-risk prisoners," said Al Rasheed Sakalahul, vice-governor of Basilan island. He said troops, backed by air force helicopters, were closing in on some of the escapees. Military checkpoints were set up in Isabela, the provincial capital, and nearby townships.
The rundown prison has a history of jailbreaks. Three Abu Sayyaf militants escaped in December last year after overpowering their guards. At least 16 people, including four Abu Sayyaf members, escaped in 2007.
In the biggest jailbreak, 53 of the prison's more than 130 inmates overpowered their guards using a smuggled pistol and fled in 2004. Nineteen Abu Sayyaf members were among those who escaped, police said.
