MANILA - Philippine authorities have detained 39 Malaysian and Indonesian fishermen for alleged poaching in border waters off the southern Philippines, the military said today.

A navy task force searching for an Indonesian and two Malaysians abducted by suspected Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas came upon nine foreign fishing boats on Wednesday whose crews failed to present fishing permits, navy spokesman Captain Geronimo Malabanan said.

The boats and the 39 crewmen were detained in waters surrounding Taganak and Baguan islands in the Tawi-Tawi group near the Malaysian state of Sabah.

They are now being held by the coastguard in Taganak, Malabanan said in a statement.

The missing Indonesian and Malaysians are the crew of a barge that was boarded by suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi group on Sunday. - AFP