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Thursday, September 01, 2005
Army troops clash with other rebels, one soldier wounded (5:08 p.m.)
COTABATO -- Army troops and police hunting Abu Sayyaf rebel leader Khaddafy Janjalani accidentally clashed with members of another Muslim rebel group Thursday in a gun battle that wounded one soldier, the military said.
The troops were tracking down Janjalani, recently sighted in the southern village of Gawang in Maguindanao Province, when they stumbled on about 100 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas, setting off a brief firefight, military officials said.
The MILF is engaged in peace talks with the government and has committed to helping the military capture al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf guerrillas who seek refuge near the rebel front's jungle strongholds.
Government and MILF rebel representatives immediately went to the battle scene to stop the fighting. The MILF guerrillas agreed to a military request to leave their stronghold in Gawang temporarily to allow the military-police offensive against Janjalani to continue, army Brig. Gen. Ben Dolorfino said.
The military has been hunting Janjalani, fellow Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Sulaiman and about 30 to 40 armed followers since July in a major U.S.-backed offensive. Janjalani and Sulaiman, who have been charged for several deadly terror attacks, are among the country's most wanted outlaws and are on a U.S. list of wanted terrorists.
Janjalani is reportedly in the company of a number of Indonesian militants belonging to the Jemaah Islamiyah, al-Qaida's ally in Southeast Asia. The Indonesians reportedly include Pitono, a Jemaah Islamiyah leader also known as Dulmatin, who is wanted by Indonesian authorities for his alleged role in the October 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, military officials say.(AP) |
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