PHILIPPINE SLAUGHTER

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At least 100 people were killed this morning when about 200 heavily armed Muslim extremists stormed a southern Philippine town and fought with police and soldiers who had flown in with orders to "shoot to kill." Authorities do not know how many of the dead were the attackers, who robbed and set fires to businesses in Ipil, a town of 50,000 people. President Fidel Ramos declared a state of emergency in the town, which is about 480 miles south of Manila. The raiders were members of Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim rebel group fighting for a fundamentalist Muslim state in the southern Philippines, according to the government. The group is accused of bombings and ransom kidnappings and has been linked to a plot to kill Pope John Paul II and blow up American airliners over the Pacific. Police also claim that the group worked withRamzi Yousef, the alleged mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing, in Manila and may have helped him escape.