SULU – At least 7 army soldiers and Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed in fierce clashes Friday in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, security officials said.
Officials said 9 other soldiers were injured in the fighting that erupted in the village of Buhanginan in Patikul town after troops engaged some 150 rebels under Radulan Sahiron.
Army Major Filemon Tan, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said troops fired several rounds of 105mm Howitzer on suspected Abu Sayyaf positions in the town.
The fighting lasted over 45 minutes, but it was not immediately known whether the elusive Abu Sayyaf leader was wounded or killed in the fighting. The bodies of the rebels were recovered by soldiers.
“Despite the casualties incurred, the military continues to conduct combat operations against the ASG to destroy the bandits, rescue the kidnap victims and deter terror attacks perpetrated by the bandit group in the province of Sulu and possibly in other provinces as well,” Tan said.
The Abu Sayyaf is still holding more than a dozen Malaysian and Indonesian sailors kidnapped in Sabah, Malaysia, including an elderly German boater. (Mindanao Examiner)
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