A look at major terror attacks in Southeast Asia
WANTED TERRORISTS. This undated poster released jointly by the Philippine military and the US Embassy in Manila shows terrorist leaders wanted by authorities for murders, extortion and kidnappings with corresponding rewards for their capture. AP
A look at major attacks in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia attributed to the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group and their allies from the regional terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah.
— April 1995: Abu Sayyaf militants raid the mostly Christian town of Ipil in southern Philippines, killing more than 50 people after robbing banks and stores and burning the town center.
— April 2000: Abu Sayyaf gunmen seize 21 people, including Western tourists, from a Malaysian resort and take them to their Philippine stronghold on Jolo Island; most are released in exchange for millions of dollars in ransom reportedly paid by Libya.
— May 2001: Americans and other tourists are snatched from the Dos Palmas resort in the southwestern Philippine province of Palawan, starting a yearlong kidnapping saga that leaves several hostages dead, including Americans Guillermo Sobero and Martin Burnham.
— August 2001: 33 Christian residents of Balobo village on southern Philippines’ Basilan Island are taken hostage and 10 are beheaded.
— October 2002: Triple bombings on Bali, Indonesia, kill 202, mostly foreign tourists, including 88 Australians. Police say al-Qaida helped fund the attacks.
— October 2002: A nail-laden bomb detonates in Zamboanga city in southern Philippines, killing four, including an American Green Beret. Four more bomb attacks during the month, killing 16, are blamed on Abu Sayyaf.
— August 2003: A suicide bomber attacks the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, killing 11.
— February 2004: A bomb on a passenger ferry in Manila Bay kills 116 in the Philippines’ worst terrorist strike.
— April 2004: Three crewmen of a Malaysian tugboat are abducted off Malaysia’s Sabah state; they are believed to have either died of illness or killed by their captors.
— September 2004: A suicide bomber detonates a ton of explosives packed into a delivery van outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, killing 11 and wounding 200.
— February 2005: Almost simultaneous bombings in Manila and two southern cities kill eight and wound more than 100.
— October 2005: Triple suicide bombers kill 20 in attacks on restaurants in Bali.
— January 2009: Gunmen on Jolo kidnap three aid workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross from Switzerland, Italy and the Philippines. They are freed separately, reportedly after ransom is paid.
— July 2011: Filipino militants kidnap an American, her teenage son and Filipino cousin. She is freed two months later and the boy escapes in December.
— February 2012: Gunmen seize two tourists, one Dutch and one Swiss, in Tawi-Tawi province in southern Philippines.
