ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines: At least 54 soldiers and militants were killed in fierce clashes in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, where security forces stormed an Abu Sayyaf camp.
The fighting, which began Wednesday, also left more than a dozen soldiers wounded in the town of Ungkaya Pukan after the soldiers overran the camp in Silangkum village.
The military recovered at least 10 bodies of militants and improvised explosives and high-powered weapons from the camp, said First Lt. Steffani Cacho, an army spokeswoman.
The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for a spate of terrorism and kidnappings-for-ransom cases in Basilan and nearby city of Zamboanga.
On Thursday, the troops continued their hunt for the militants in the villages of Baguindan and Silangkum near Ungkaya Pukan where the fighting erupted.
A total of 23 soldiers died and 18 were wounded, four of them in serious condition, said navy chief Vice Adm. Ferdinand Golez. The slain soldiers were brought to a morgue here. Stunned relatives waited, some quietly weeping.
The militants, who Golez said possibly included members of the main separatist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front, suffered 31 dead. A spokesman for the Moro rebels, Eid Kabalu, confirmed that 10 of the dead were members of the group. He said they were not with the Abu Sayyaf and only happened to be in the area when the fighting erupted.
