Clashes between troops and suspected al-Qaida linked militants have killed at least 52 people on volatile southern Jolo island, the Philippines military said today.

A top al-Qaida-linked militant, long wanted by the US and Philippine authorities for deadly terror attacks, has been killed in a clash with troops in a major blow to his brutal rebel group, the military said today.

Gunbattles between al-Qaida-linked guerrillas and the Filipino military in the south of the country killed at least one marine and wounded 24 troops, the military said today, as the country’s president said the government was on the verge of wiping out the militants.