Philippine army troops (Photo: AFP) Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippine military said on April17 that 11 soldiers were killed and 14 others were wounded in an hour-longclash with Abu Sayyaf militants in the remote southern province of Sulu thesame day.
The ArmedForces of the Philippines' Western Mindanao Command Chief Lieutenant GeneralCirilito Sobejana said in a report that army troops on patrol clashed witharound 40 militants in a village in Patikul town at around 15:00, resulting inthe killing and wounding of soldiers.
Sobejanasaid Abu Sayyaf militants also sustained casualties based on the bloodstains onthe clash site.
AbuSayyaf Group is considered the smallest but the most violent of the extremistgroups in the southern Philippines. The group, which has an estimated 400fighters, is active in the impoverished archipelagic provinces of Sulu andBasilan.
The groupis responsible for the series of kidnappings, deadly bombings, ambushes ofsecurity personnel, public beheadings, assassinations, and extortion in theMindanao region.
Thegroup, which has been sowing terror in the Philippine southern region since the1990s, preys on foreign tourists, businessmen and fishermen not only from thePhilippines but also from Indonesia and Malaysia and hide them in Philippinejungles or remote islands./.
The ArmedForces of the Philippines' Western Mindanao Command Chief Lieutenant GeneralCirilito Sobejana said in a report that army troops on patrol clashed witharound 40 militants in a village in Patikul town at around 15:00, resulting inthe killing and wounding of soldiers.
Sobejanasaid Abu Sayyaf militants also sustained casualties based on the bloodstains onthe clash site.
AbuSayyaf Group is considered the smallest but the most violent of the extremistgroups in the southern Philippines. The group, which has an estimated 400fighters, is active in the impoverished archipelagic provinces of Sulu andBasilan.
The groupis responsible for the series of kidnappings, deadly bombings, ambushes ofsecurity personnel, public beheadings, assassinations, and extortion in theMindanao region.
Thegroup, which has been sowing terror in the Philippine southern region since the1990s, preys on foreign tourists, businessmen and fishermen not only from thePhilippines but also from Indonesia and Malaysia and hide them in Philippinejungles or remote islands./.
VNA
