One soldier dead in southern RP violence<\/p>\n
THE PHILIPPINES: Philippine troops and about 100 suspected
\nMuslim militants exchanged heavy gunfire deep in the mountains of
\nthe southwestern island of Jolo, killing one soldier and an
\nunknown number of rebels, the army said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Brig. Gen. Alexander Aleo, commander of the military's
\ncounterterrorism task force, said fighting broke out late on
\nTuesday when soldiers ran into a large group of Abu Sayyaf rebels
\nin the mountains near the town of Indanan.<\/p>\n
The clash was the first contact with the rebels since a week
\nago, when troops in the town of Panamao came under mortar
\nbarrages.<\/p>\n
\"We lost only one but our troops may have inflicted a heavy
\ntoll on the enemy side,\" Aleo told reporters. \"Sporadic fighting
\ncontinued through the night.\"<\/p>\n
Abu Sayyaf, the smallest of four Muslim rebel groups in the
\nsouthern Philippines, is suspected of links with al-Qaeda and the
\nregional militant network Jamaah Islamiyah.<\/p>\n
Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for a wave of bombings in the south
\nand Manila since 2002. The group claimed the worst terrorism
\nattack in the mainly Roman Catholic country -- the 2004 bombing
\nof a ferry near the capital that killed more than 100 people. --
\nReuters<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/one-soldier-dead-in-southern-rp-violence-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}