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Monday, April 09, 2007
10 killed in Army camp clash
MANILA -- Nine soldiers and a civilian were killed in a clash in a small Army camp on a southern Philippine island and the military is investigating whether it was an attack by the al Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, an army spokesman said Sunday.
A day after Saturday's pre-dawn clash in Jolo island's Parang town, military officials said they were still investigating whether the violence was triggered by an Abu Sayyaf attack or a squabble among the troops.
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Army spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said shots rang out during a power outage in the camp and troops from a nearby area rushed to the scene and found nine soldiers and the unidentified civilian sprawled dead on the ground.
Another soldier and the wife of one the slain troops were wounded, he said, adding that details about the clash remained sketchy.
"There was no power in the camp, suddenly a firefight erupted," Torres told radio station dzBB. "Some soldiers came but were also fired upon. They later saw the 10 sprawled dead in the camp."
An initial military report seen by The Associated Press said an unidentified civilian, believed to be an Abu Sayyaf member, grabbed the M-16 rifle of a soldier guarding the camp and fatally shot him.
The intruder then managed to get hold of a light machine gun and opened fire, indiscriminately killing the other soldiers, until he himself was shot to death by other troops, the sketchy report said.
A massive US-backed military offensive has targeted the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo since August. Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani and several other militants have been killed in clashes with troops but about 400 other militants, including Indonesian terror suspects, remain at large in predominantly Muslim Jolo, about 900 kilometers south of Manila.
Washington has offered large rewards for the capture or killing of remaining Abu Sayyaf commanders and the Indonesian militants in Jolo. (AP)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Manila.
(April 9, 2007 issue)
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