Manila - Ten South Korean nationals were killed when their van crashed into a concrete wall while on their way to a vacation in the northern Philippines, police said Thursday.

The South Koreans were on their way to a resort in Bolinao town in Pangasinan province, 225 kilometres north of Manila, when the accident occurred Wednesday.

Senior Inspector Rizaldy Dalope, town police chief, said the van smashed into a concrete wall in the village of Sampaloc.

Two of the victims were students in the northern mountain city of Baguio, while the rest were tourists. At least one was a child.

Iligan City, Philippines - Philippine Air Force planes bombarded Muslim rebel positions Wednesday in a southern province in a bid to flush out a commander who led deadly attacks last week, a military report said.

The bombings were focused on the encampments of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander Abdullah Macapaar, also known as Commander Bravo, in Lanao del Norte province, 810 kilometres south of Manila.

"Damage report is still ongoing by troops on the ground," the report said.

Manila - A Philippine Air Force C-130 cargo plane with nine people aboard has been missing and feared to have crashed, officials said Tuesday.

Lieutenant Pedrito Cadungog, air force chief, said the plane took off from the international airport in Davao City, 990 kilometres south of Manila, on Monday evening.

It was bound for the eastern city of Iloilo, where it was supposed to arrive about two hours later.

But Cadungog said the air force lost contact with the plane about 10 minutes after it took off.

Cotabato City, Philippines - At least 100 Muslim rebels were killed in three days of airstrikes and ground assaults by government forces in the southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said Saturday.

Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando said the military offensive would continue against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas in seven towns in Maguindanao province, 
960 kilometres south of Manila.

Manila - Five people were killed when unidentified gunmen attacked a convoy of a town deputy mayor in the southern Philippines, officials said Saturday.

Vice Mayor Wilson Nadang was unhurt in the ambush which happened Friday in Santo Nino village near Tukuran, a town in the province Zamboanga del Sur, 810 kilometres south of Manila.

Nadang, who is deputy mayor of the nearby town Labangan, told a local radio station that five of his security escorts were killed in a gunbattle with the attackers.

Police said initial investigation showed the incident could have been a "misencounter" between Nadang's security escorts and government security forces manning a checkpoint.