Basilan

Three Philippine soldiers were killed in a major assault on a Muslim extremist camp in the southern Philippines, the military said today.

The first explosion on Basilan island killed three bodyguards of local official Abdulbaki Ajibon and a fourth person, they said.

The Philippine military says soldiers attacked a Muslim militant hideout on southern Basilan island, triggering a clash that killed three Abu Sayyaf members believed to have been involved in the 2011 kidnapping of an American woman and her teenage son. Two government militiamen were killed and two others were wounded.

Gunmen have killed 15 Philippine fishermen and wounded three others in a sea attack by suspected local rivals, the military said on Tuesday. The fishermen were killed by men armed with assault rifles off the insurgency-torn southern island of Basilan on Monday.

Three Philippine soldiers were killed in a major assault on a Muslim extremist camp in the southern Philippines, the military said today.

The first explosion on Basilan island killed three bodyguards of local official Abdulbaki Ajibon and a fourth person, they said.

The Philippine military says soldiers attacked a Muslim militant hideout on southern Basilan island, triggering a clash that killed three Abu Sayyaf members believed to have been involved in the 2011 kidnapping of an American woman and her teenage son. Two government militiamen were killed and two others were wounded.

Gunmen have killed 15 Philippine fishermen and wounded three others in a sea attack by suspected local rivals, the military said on Tuesday. The fishermen were killed by men armed with assault rifles off the insurgency-torn southern island of Basilan on Monday.