Nine Philippine Soldiers Wounded in Battle

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines — Philippine troops exchanged gunfire with Muslim extremist guerrillas on a southern island, and at least nine soldiers were wounded, an army commander said Saturday.

Troops were sent to a village outside Maimbung town on Jolo island Friday to check on the reported presence of armed men believed to be Abu Sayyaf rebels when they encountered about 50 guerrillas, said Maj. Gen. Glicerio Sua.

The ensuing gun battle lasted more than an hour before the rebels escaped in small groups, Sua said. He claimed the rebels suffered some casualties.

The wounded soldiers were airlifted to a hospital in Jolo town, Sua said.

The area is known to be the base of Abu Sayyaf leaders Galib Andang and Mujib Susukan, he said. The two are suspected of leading a raid on the nearby Malaysian island resort of Sipadan in April 2000, when rebels abducted 21 people, including 10 Western tourists.

All except one Filipino hostage have been freed, reportedly after Libya paid huge ransoms.

In May 2001, another Abu Sayyaf group seized three Americans and 17 Filipinos from a Philippine resort. One of the Americans — Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif. — was beheaded a month later.

Another American — missionary Martin Burnham of Wichita, Kan. — died during a June 2002 rescue operation by U.S.-trained soldiers. His wife, Gracia, was wounded.

Abu Sayyaf currently is holding four Jehovah's Witnesses and three Indonesia tugboat sailors kidnapped last year.

It also is blamed for a series of bombings in Zamboanga last year that killed 12 people, including a U.S. Green Beret, and injured more than 200.

A six-month, joint U.S.-Philippine counterterrorism exercise last year is credited with breaking up the Abu Sayyaf and tracking down its key leaders. Officials say the group is linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

The United States has included the Abu Sayyaf on its list of foreign terrorists and has indicted 11 of its top leaders and members.