Scores dead after Philippine army clashes with militants

Philippine troops suffered one of their worst losses in an offensive against al Qaida-linked militants on a southern island that left at least 23 soldiers and 20 guerrillas dead, officials said today.

Troops continued to scour the battlefield following clashes yesterday with Abu Sayyaf militants in two of their jungle camps on Basilan Island, and the tally of dead militants could rise, said regional military commander Major General Benjamin Dolorfino.

“It was a slugfest,” Maj Gen Dolorfino said. “It was really close-quarter fighting so we couldn’t use our artillery,” he said, adding troops were pursuing small pockets of fleeing gunmen.

Although weakened by yearslong US-backed offensives, about 400 Abu Sayyaf gunmen on Basilan and nearby Jolo Island and the Zamboanga peninsula have recently turned to ransom kidnappings to raise funds for terror attacks, officials said.

The militants held three international Red Cross workers kidnapped on Jolo for several months this year, as well as a dozen Filipino hostages. All have been released or rescued.

More than 400 marines, army and police commandos launched simultaneous, pre-dawn attacks yesterday on two Abu Sayyaf encampments in hilly Silangkum and Baguindam villages, sparking fierce daylong fighting.

The clashes killed 20 marines and three army members, including two officers, in one of the biggest single-day military battle losses in recent years, Maj Gen Dolorfino said. Troops also found the bodies of 20 militants in Baguindan.

The offensive targeted about 60 militants in the two hilltop strongholds, led by Abu Sayyaf chieftains Khair Mundus and Furuji Indama, said Rear Admiral Alex Pama. It was not clear if they were among the dead.

Troops found several bombs, booby traps and 15 assault rifles and grenade launchers in the camps, Rear Admiral Pama said, adding that the explosives had been safely detonated.

“The bombs were already primed to explode,” he said. They may have been intended for another wave of terror attacks.