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| Southeast Asia |
| Abu Sayyaf shells Filippino military as battle rages on |
| 2005-11-16 |
| Suspected Islamic militants linked to al Qaeda fired shells at Philippine troops on Wednesday as the rebels fled their hideouts in another part of the southwestern island of Jolo, army officials said. About 29 people, including four soldiers, had been killed and dozens wounded in three days of fighting with members of the Abu Sayyaf group in mountains near the town of Indanan, said Colonel Domingo Tutaan, an army spokesman in the southern Philippines. "Our troops came under heavy mortar fire this morning," he told reporters. "We did not suffer any casualties. The projectiles did not hit their targets. Unfortunately, a mosque and several houses in the area were destroyed." Tutaan said the first barrage came when soldiers were having breakfast in the town of Panamao in another part of Jolo island. Two hours later, mortar shells rained down on a marine battalion's base in the area, he said. After rebel shelling early this week, the community around the military camp was abandoned before the latest mortar attack, Tutaan said. Dozens of houses made of light materials were damaged or destroyed. Tutaan said army soldiers and marines stumbled upon a hastily abandoned rebel camp in Indanan town, the scene of three days of fighting since last week. Thousands of empty shells, food and clothing were found in foxholes and bunkers, he said. It was the third in a network of rebel hideouts to fall under government control. The base had deep trenches and a mess hall able to hold more than 50 people, Tutaan said. Fighting around Indanan began on Friday when soldiers on a mission to capture Radullan Sahiron, a one-armed Abu Sayyaf commander, ran into a large group of militants. An estimated 25 guerrillas were killed in the clashes, but only three bodies were found at the scene. It was not possible to independently confirm the rebel or military casualties. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 Say, could we maybe get those guys over to our field of operations to (Mis)Direct our arty fire toward a couple of mosques? (Oops, soo sorry, didn't mean it, just an error) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-11-16 20:04 |
| #2 It's allan's will. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-11-16 10:19 |
| #1 "The projectiles did not hit their targets. Unfortunately, a mosque and several houses in the area were destroyed." Oh the irony! |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-11-16 10:18 |