Abu Sayyaf gunmen on Sunday killed six soldiers who were guarding a road
project that has been delayed by militant attacks in a southern
Philippine province, the military said.
The soldiers were patrolling the outskirts of a farming village in
Sumisop town on the island province of Basilan when about 20 heavily
armed Abu Sayyaf fighters opened fire, sparking a 45-minute battle, army
Col. Rolando Bautista.
At least one soldier also was wounded. It was not immediately clear if there were rebel casualties.
The Abu Sayyaf, which is on a U.S. list of terrorist organizations,
was founded in the early 1990s in Basilan, a predominantly Muslim
province in the majority Catholic nation, about 880 kilometers south of
Manila. Despite many battle setbacks, the group has endured, surviving
mostly on kidnappings and extortion, and remains a national security
threat.
Bautista said he deployed additional troops to pursue the attackers,
who were led by a commander he identified as Radzmi Jannatul.
The attack came as hundreds of troops hunted down Abu Sayyaf gunmen
on nearby Jolo island, where the militants freed two German tourists
last month reportedly after a huge ransom payment.
