Saturday, June 13, 2009

Militants kill 5 Philippine marines in ambush




Militants kill 5 Philippine marines in ambush






Al-Qaida-linked militants holding an Italian Red Cross worker captive killed five Philippine marines and wounded 10 others in an ambush Saturday on a southern island. One police officer was wounded. Also in the south, the military said fighting with a different militant group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, left 10 dead and 20 wounded on Friday.

About 40 militants from the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group attacked marines and special operations police pursuing Abu Sayyaf gunmen on Jolo island.

The militants attacked armed with high-powered firearms and grenades.

The 400 strong Abu Sayyaf remains on the U.S. terrorist organizations list.
The rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the early 1970s for Muslim self-rule largely based on the main southern island of Mindanao.

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