ZAMBOANGA CITY: Government forces battled yesterday Abu Sayyaf militants in two fronts in the southern Philippines, where security forces, backed by US military, are trying to defeat the notorious group blamed for the spate of deadly attacks that left hundreds of people dead.
Fighting between marines and the militants erupted at around 6 a.m. in the town of Patikul in Sulu province, said Lt. Steffani Cacho, a spokesman for the Philippines Western Mindanao Command headquarters, which is monitoring the situation.
An hour later, hostilities also broke out in the nearby province of Basilan when militants engaged marines in fighting in a town called Al-Barka, scene of previous clashes where 14 soldiers were beheaded early this year.
It was unknown if the Abu Sayyaf coordinated its attacks on government forces, but sporadic clashes had been reported in Basilan and Sulu, where the US maintain a few hundred troops to help the local military defeat terrorism. Both provinces belong to the Muslim autonomous region.
Authorities have tagged the Abu Sayyaf group in the February 2004 bombing of the Super Ferry 14, which killed more than 100 people in the worst maritime terrorist attack in the Philippines.
The group was also behind the spate of kidnappings and bomb attacks across Mindanao, although the military said the number of militants had dwindled in recent years with the killings of many of its known commanders, including their leader Khadaffy Janjalani.
The Abu Sayyaf — which means The Bearer of the Sword — is one of four Moro rebel groups operating mostly in the southern Philippines.
It has been labeled a terrorist organization by both Manila and Washington.
