Philippine soldiers killed 15 Muslim rebels in clashes in the southern island of Jolo on Friday as hundreds of troops were rushed to secure Manila following a botched coup attempt, the military said. The military lost five soldiers in the clashes. The government put down a bloodless mutiny by a small group of renegade soldiers in a Manila hotel on Thursday and reinforcements were sent from other parts of the country. In the south, where Manila is battling communist and Muslim insurgencies, Friday’s hours-long gun-battle with insurgents in the jungles of Jolo overshadowed the attempted coup. “We lost five men and 12 others were wounded,” Colonel Cesario Atienza, a Marine brigade commander told reporters by phone, adding his troops recovered the bodies of six rebels and a cache of weapons and munitions. Lieutenant-Colonel Jonas Lumawag told reporters that intelligence reports indicated that 15 rebels were killed and 20 wounded, including a leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) who held a Marine general in February on Jolo. “Based on signal intercepts, three other sub-leaders were wounded in the fighting,” Lumawag said.
Jolo, a base for Muslim militants in the largely Roman Catholic country, was the scene of one of the bloodiest days in recent Philippine military history, when at least 20 soldiers were killed in one day in August.
Hunt for more suspects continues: Philippine authorities launched a manhunt on Friday for more suspects accused of helping stage a dramatic but short-lived rebellion against the government that was put down by the military. The small band of primarily armed forces officers, who seized a luxury hotel on Thursday to demand the resignation of President Gloria Arroyo, were bundled off by police after a lightning raid, but officials said others were involved. Police chief Avelino Razon said documents found among debris in the Peninsula Hotel, which SWAT teams stormed in a hail of gunfire and tear gas to end the stand-off, indicated “four groups” took part in the mutiny. Officials said up to 20 other people who were not part of the hotel siege were under investigation, including politicians and businessmen said to have financed the rebellion.