Suspected Muslim militants attacked government troops guarding a school construction site in a rebel stronghold in the southern Philippines on Sunday, igniting a clash that killed 13 gunmen and two marines, a marine commander said. About 50 gunmen attacked two marine detachments in hilly Talipao town in Sulu province at dawn, setting off two hours of fierce fighting that killed 13 suspected militants and two marines, marine commander Col. Romeo Tanalgo said. Six other military personnel were wounded before the gunmen split and withdrew into the forest, he said.
The attackers were likely young Muslim militants trained by the notoriously violent Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaida-linked group regarded as a terrorist organization by the United States and the Philippines, and radical members of a larger rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front, which also has a presence in the impoverished, far-flung community, military officials said.
The militants have formed a new group called Awliyah and are led by a commander identified as Hatib Zacaria who wants to make a name through violence, said regional military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang. The marines have been monitoring the new group for about a year.
The marines who came under attack in their two roadside detachments were guarding a school construction site and a road project. Read More
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