U.S. Hostage Killed in Raid in the Philippines

Gracia Burnham, 43, was shot in the thigh during the raid and underwent surgery in a military hospital in the southern city of Zamboanga. Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, commander of Philippine forces in the south, told reporters that she was “out of danger.”

According to Philippine deputy military chief of staff Gen. Narciso Abaya, American Martin Burnham, 42, was killed by gunfire. It is unclear whether the kidnappers killed him or whether he was the victim of friendly fire from Philippine soldiers.

Ediborah Yap, a Filipino nurse kidnapped shortly after the Burnhams, was also killed during the rescue operation.

Four members of the Abu Sayyaf, the Muslim extremist group that was holding the Burnhams, died in the gunfight and seven Filipino soldiers were wounded.

The Light Reaction Company, a U.S.-trained Filipino stealth military unit, conducted the operation equipped with special night raid equipment and surveillance technology.

The Burnhams, missionaries from Kansas, were kidnapped last May from a resort where they were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary. The guerrillas also captured 18 other hostages, many of whom were released for ransom.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo offered sympathy to the Burnham and Yap families.

“This has been a long and painful trial for them, our government, our country,” she said.

President Bush called the Burnhams’ family Friday to express his condolences. The president also said he had spoken to President Arroyo and that she had told him the group would be brought to justice.

“She assured me that the Philippine government would hold the terrorist group accountable for how they treated these Americans,” the president said.

U.S. intelligence agents have linked the Abu Sayyaf group, infamous for beheading hostages, to Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaida network.

The American military presence in the Philippines is part of the Bush administration global plan to fight terrorism and is the largest outside of Afghanistan.