MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine military spokesman says at least five soldiers and three Muslim militants were killed in a fierce battle as troops pressed a new offensive in the south following a deadly church bombing blamed on Islamic State group-linked gunmen.
Regional military spokesman Col. Gerry Besana says another five soldiers and 15 militants were wounded in nearly two hours of fighting Saturday between army troops and about 150 Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the jungles off Patikul town in Sulu province.
Besana says the militants were led by Abu Sayyaf commander Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who has been suspected of plotting the bombing of a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Sulu capital of Jolo on Sunday that killed 22 people and wounded more than 100 others. Sawadjaan apparently escaped.
