Philippine troops kill 6 terrorists in two-day clashes in southern Philippines

MANILA - At least six suspected terrorists were killed and seven soldiers wounded in two days of fighting between Philippine troops and Abu Sayyaf bandits over the weekend in Sulu in the southern Philippines, the military said on Monday.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said an Abu Sayyaf fighter was killed and five soldiers were wounded in the first fighting that broke out in a village near Patikul town in Sulu around 2:40 pm on Saturday.

Five more terrorists were killed and two soldiers were wounded in the second clash that happened in Indanan town around 3:30 pm on Sunday, the AFP said.

Troops also recovered several firearms, ammunition and mobile phones in the encounter site, including an M653 rifle, a Barret sniper rifle and three 45-caliber handguns.

Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, the commander of the AFP's Western Mindanao Command, said the operations were launched to rescue the Abu Sayyaf kidnap victims, including a 70-year-old British man and his Filipino wife, who were abducted on Oct 4 in Zamboanga del Sur province.

Abu Sayyaf is considered the smallest but the most violent of the extremist groups in the southern Philippines. The group, which has an estimated 400 fighters, is active in the impoverished island provinces of Sulu and Basilan.

The group is responsible for the series of kidnappings-for-ransom, deadly bombings, ambushes of security personnel, public beheadings, assassinations, and extortion in the southern Philippines.

The group, which has been terrorizing the Philippine southern region since the 1990s, preys on foreign tourists, businessmen and fishermen not only from the Philippines but also from Indonesia and Malaysia and hide them in Philippine jungles or remote islands.