Philippine troops rescue abducted Briton, wife

MANILA－Philippine soldiers on Monday rescued a British man and his wife from local extremist group Abu Sayyaf, nearly two months after the couple were kidnapped from their beach resort in the nation's south, authorities said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines said in a statement on Monday that at least six suspected Abu Sayyaf militants were killed and seven government soldiers wounded in fighting between the Philippine troops and the extremists over the weekend in Sulu in the southern Philippines.

Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, leader of the Philippine Western Mindanao Command, said the operations were launched to rescue the two Abu Sayyaf kidnap victims. The 70-year-old British man and his Filipino wife were abducted on Oct 4 in Zamboanga del Sur Province.

The couple, Allan and Wilma Hyrons, were abducted by gunmen as villagers watched in shock from their beach resort in the south of the province, sparking a massive search, according to The Associated Press.

According to the statement released by the Philippine forces, an Abu Sayyaf fighter was killed and five soldiers were wounded in the initial fighting that broke out in a village near Patikul town in Sulu around 2:40 pm on Saturday. Five more militants were killed and two soldiers were wounded in the second clash that occurred in the town of Indanan around 3:30 pm on Sunday.

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

A picture released by the armed forces showed the rescued couple smiling in a military camp and talking with generals and other army officers in Sulu. Sobejana said the couple will undergo medical checkups and will be interviewed by military officials.

The British embassy in Manila confirmed the rescue of the Hyrons, saying in a statement "we extend our gratitude to the government and authorities of the Philippines".

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

Abu Sayyaf has been conducting jihadist activities since the early 1990s. But in recent years the faction based in the Sulu Archipelago has claimed ties to al-Qaida and Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiyah.

Its fighters have mounted a series of kidnappings-for-ransom, deadly bombings, ambushes of security personnel, public beheadings, assassinations, and extortion in the southern Philippines.