Philippine army kills 14 Islamic militants
US-trained army commandos on Thursday killed 14 Islamist militants belonging to the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in the first major battle this year on a remote southern island, as the Philippines stepped up efforts to rescue foreign hostages.
The Abu Sayyaf is the smallest but most deadly of several Muslim groups fighting for independence in the south of the Roman Catholic country. It is estimated to have about 500 hard-core followers based mostly on Basilan and Jolo. It has links with Jemaah Islamiah, a pan-Asian radical Muslim group blamed for attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali bombings and two Jakarta hotel bombings last month.
