 MANILA: Eight soldiers were killed and 12 others wounded in the southern Philippines on Monday in simultaneous attacks by hundreds of armed followers of detained Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari, officials said.
| Gosh. We haven't heard anything from Nur or MNLF in ages. |
Sporadic firefights broke out between security forces and several hundred Muslim gunmen around the towns of Panamao, Parang and Talipao on Jolo island at dawn and the gunbattles continued into the afternoon, they said. The gunmen ambushed a military truck near the town of Patikul in early afternoon, killing seven soldiers and wounding 12 others, said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventura Pascual. A soldier was also killed and two others wounded when Misuari allies attacked a military unit that was building a road near Parang in mid-morning, Pascual told reporters. "We are trying to contain the situation. Our priority is the safety of the civilians and to secure vital government installations in the area," said the Philippine Marines commander Major General Orlando Buenaventura. |