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Twenty-Six Abu Sayyaf Rebels Killed in Philippines
At least 26 Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed in two separate gunbattles with government troops in the southern provinces of Sulu and Basilan Sunday, the military said.
It was the heaviest casualty the Abu Sayyaf has suffered since last month when the military intensified operations against the rebel group, which is still holding two American and eight Filipino hostages.
Dozens of Abu Sayyaf members have been killed since then, the military said.
Eighteen Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed when government forces clashed with some 100 Abu Sayyaf members on the outskirts of Talipao town in Sulu on Sunday morning, the Philippine News Agency reported.
In the encounter, one soldier was killed and nine others wounded, Armed Forces of the Philippines Southern Command chief Lieutenant General Roy Cimatu was quoted as saying.
Eight more Abu Sayyaf members were killed in a gunbattle in the Sampinit complex in Basilan on Sunday afternoon, Cimatu said.
During the two encounters, four attack helicopters of the Air Force pounded rebel positions, he said.
Meanwhile, Cimatu also said that the 26 American military advisers who flew into Manila on Friday to help the military neutralize the Abu Sayyaf were not expected to arrive in the southern Philippine until October 25.
The Philippine government has earlier stated that the American advisers would not be directly involved in military actions against the Abu Sayyaf, which the United States has listed as one of the foreign terrorist groups.
Abu Sayyaf group allegedly has links with Osama bin Laden, whom the United States held responsible for the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
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