Zamboanga City, Philippines  - One of six schoolteachers seized by Islamic militants in the southern Philippines has died in captivity, a provincial police chief said Saturday.

Senior Superintendent Federico Castro said Noemi Mandi, 34, died six days ago in the lair of Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila.

Zamboanga City, Philippines  - One soldier was killed and five were injured in a botched attempt to rescue a kidnapping victim in the southern Philippines, a regional military spokeswoman said Friday.

The fighting erupted Thursday when troops conducting an operation to rescue a kidnapped employee of a lending firm encountered Muslim separatist rebels in Sumisip town in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila, Lieutenant Esteffani Cacho said.

Zamboanga City, Philippines  - Three public school teachers were seized by unidentified gunmen in the southern Philippines, the latest in a string of kidnapping in the area, a military spokeswoman said Saturday.

First Lieutenant Esteffani Cacho said the teachers were riding a motorized boat when gunmen in another boat seized them off Naga town in Zamboanga Sibugay province, 990 kilometres south of Manila, Friday afternoon.

"The navy has already deployed ships for possible maritime interjection," she said.

Zamboanga City, Philippines  - Three people were killed when pirates attacked a trawler in the southern Philippines, a local official said Sunday.

The pirates also took captive two crewmen from the trawler during the attack in the sea off Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila, late Thursday.

Rasheed Sakkalahul, the province's deputy governor, said the pirates opened fire at the fishing boat, boarded the vessel and killed three crewmen.

Zamboanga City, Philippines  - A broadcast journalist was wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen in a southern Philippine city, a police report said Friday.

Nilo Libares had just left the compound of Radio Agong dxCC in Cagayan de Oro City, 810 kilometres south of Manila, on Thursday afternoon when two gunmen fired at him.

Colleagues immediately rushed the victim to a nearby hospital.

Zamboanga City, Philippines  - A suspended provincial jail warden was shot dead Monday in a southern Philippine island, where Muslim militants are holding captive three staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), police said.

Jajulie Jupakkal was attacked in Jolo town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, according to Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim, a provincial police chief.

Kasim said Jupakkal suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died on the spot.