One soldier dead in southern RP violence

One soldier dead in southern RP violence

THE PHILIPPINES: Philippine troops and about 100 suspected
Muslim militants exchanged heavy gunfire deep in the mountains of
the southwestern island of Jolo, killing one soldier and an
unknown number of rebels, the army said on Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Alexander Aleo, commander of the military's
counterterrorism task force, said fighting broke out late on
Tuesday when soldiers ran into a large group of Abu Sayyaf rebels
in the mountains near the town of Indanan.

The clash was the first contact with the rebels since a week
ago, when troops in the town of Panamao came under mortar
barrages.

"We lost only one but our troops may have inflicted a heavy
toll on the enemy side," Aleo told reporters. "Sporadic fighting
continued through the night."

Abu Sayyaf, the smallest of four Muslim rebel groups in the
southern Philippines, is suspected of links with al-Qaeda and the
regional militant network Jamaah Islamiyah.

Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for a wave of bombings in the south
and Manila since 2002. The group claimed the worst terrorism
attack in the mainly Roman Catholic country -- the 2004 bombing
of a ferry near the capital that killed more than 100 people. --
Reuters