ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 28, 2012) – The Philippine military said a total of four marines were killed and 13 more wounded in five hours of fierce fighting between security and rebel forces in the southern province of Sulu.
At least 2 Abu Sayyaf gunmen were also slain in the fighting in the town of Patikul where troops had been sent to check on the reported presence of unidentified kidnap victims, said Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command.
“A total of four soldiers were killed in the fighting and 13 others are also wounded in the clash that lasted about five hours,” Cabangbang told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said Abu Sayyaf gunmen under Radullan Sahiron and followers of Tahil Sali attacked soldiers as they patrol in Patikul, sparking a running gun battle.
Cabangbang did not release the identities of the kidnap victims reported in Patikul, but among those believed to be in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf are Australian adventurer Warren Rodwell, 57, who was kidnapped in December last year from his seaside home in the town of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay province.
And also two European wildlife photographers Ewold Horn, 52, from Holland; and Lorenzo Vinciguerre, 47, from Switzerland, who were also kidnapped earlier this year in Tawi-Tawi province. The Abu Sayyaf is still holding a Japanese man and three Filipinos in Sulu.
Philippine authorities have imposed a news blackout on the kidnappings of the foreigners, although there were reports that negotiations for the safe release of Rodwell and the other foreigners are going on. (Mindanao Examiner)
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