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Muslim guerrillas fire on police; 1 killed, 3 wounded, 2 missing
Suspected Muslim guerrillas Tuesday opened fire on police on a southern Philippine island, killing one officer, wounding three and leaving two others missing, police said.Police officer Ali Akmad, who was slightly wounded, said the attackers stopped him and his colleagues on a road to a village outside Maimbung town on Jolo island, about 940 kilometers (580 miles) south of Manila. He said he had thought the attackers were soldiers manning a checkpoint. One officer was killed, two others, in addition to Akmad, were hurt and two were missing in the attack, Akmad told reporters from a hospital. The island is a stronghold of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, notorious for ransom kidnappings, beheadings and bombings, including a February 2004 attack that gutted a ferry ship and killed 116 people in one of Southeast Asia's worst terrorist attacks. US troops maintain a presence on Jolo island as part of counterterrorism training, focusing on humanitarian missions including building schools, fixing roads and improving water supply. Elusive Abu Sayyaf leader Khaddafy Janjalani and a number of Indonesian militants belonging to Jemaah Islamiyah, an Indonesian-based group also linked to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, have been sighted on Jolo in recent months, military officials said. Janjalani's presence has raised concerns that Abu Sayyaf may be plotting attacks against Philippine and US troops, officials said. Posted by: ryuge 2006-07-18 |
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