From Xinhua (Dec 7, 2019): Five killed, nine wounded in clash in southern Philippines
Four suspected Abu Sayyaf militants and a government solider were killed in a clash between Philippine troops and the bandits in Sulu Province in the southern Philippines on Saturday afternoon, the military said.
The military said at least five other militants and four soldiers were also wounded in the 30-minute fighting that broke out shortly before 2 p.m. in the remote boondocks of Patikul town in Sulu Province after troops ran into 40 heavily armed Abu Sayyaf bandits.
Troops recovered an M16 assault rifle and belongings of the Abu Sayyaf fighters in the encounter site, the military added.
Saturday's clash is the latest in the offensive operations the military launched to crush the bandit group.
Abu Sayyaf is considered the smallest but the most violent of the extremist groups in the southern Philippines. The group, which has an estimated 400 fighters, is active in the impoverished island provinces of Sulu and Basilan.
The group is responsible for the series of kidnappings-for-ransom, deadly bombings, ambushes of security personnel, public beheadings, assassinations, and extortion in the southern Philippines.
The group, which has been terrorizing the Philippine southern region since the 1990s, preys on foreign tourists, businessmen and fishermen not only from the Philippines but also from Indonesia and Malaysia and hide them in Philippine jungles or remote islands.
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