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ZAMBOANGA - PHILIPPINE troops clashed with al-Qaeda-linked militants on a southern island on Monday, killing two rebels and a soldier just days after a top Indonesian terror suspect eluded a military raid on a nearby island, an official said.
The fighting took place in Maimbung township on the western coast of Jolo island, a stronghold of the Islamic extremist Abu Sayyaf group about 950 kilometres south of Manila, regional military spokesman Maj Eugene Batara said.
The bodies of two rebels and an M-16 rifle were recovered from the scene of the clash, Maj Batara said. One soldier was killed and four others wounded and transferred to an army hospital, he added.
Last week, troops on nearby Tawi-Tawi island shot and killed an Abu Sayyaf commander, Wahab Upao, but missed the Indonesian terror suspect,
Dulmatin, one of several operatives of the Indonesian-based militant group Jemaah Islamiyah believed to be hiding in the southern Philippines. Dulmatin has been implicated in the 2002 bombings that killed 202 people in Bali, Indonesia.
The Abu Sayyaf, linked to al-Qaeda, has been blamed for bombings, kidnappings and beheadings.
US-backed offensives against the group have reduced its strength to about 300 guerrillas from more than 1,000 during its heyday in 2000, according to the military. -- AP
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