6 Abus killed, 4 Marines wounded in new Patikul clash

Six suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf were killed while four Marines were wounded as another clash erupted Thursday morning between government forces and extremists near Patikul town, in the southern Philippine province of Sulu. Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban, chief of the 3rd Marine Brigade, said the latest clash erupted when soldiers attacked an Abu Sayyaf camp in Barangay Kabuntakas-Kaunayan in Patikul around 4 a.m. which housed about 80 militants. Most of the Abu Sayyaf members in the camp, Sabban said, were from Basilan. The clash came a day after a firefight - also in Patikul town - resulted in the deaths of two Army Scout Rangers and the wounding of 17 others. Government forces tracking down Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani have engaged the bandit group in a series of clashes since Aug. 1. Elements of the 2nd Scout Rangers Battalion was deployed Tuesday night in Sulu to augment the 7th Marine Battalion Landing Team in the area as part of the military operation dubbed as "Codename Ultimatum" which started August 1. Since August 1, the military suffered a total of 30 injured soldiers from the Army and Marines, two killed in action and one slain civilian guide. -GMANews.TV