2 soldiers killed, 12 wounded in ambush in Philippines

ANKARA

At least two soldiers were killed and a dozen injured Wednesday when gunmen ambushed army troops providing security to UN officials in southern Basilan province in the Philippines, according to the military.

Brig. Gen. Alvin Luzon, commander of the Army's 101st Brigade, said in a statement that gunmen targeted an army vehicle carrying troops in a remote village in Sumisip town.

Two suspected attackers were shot dead but the number of wounded troops remained undetermined, Local English news site, Reddit.com, reported.

Luzon said the troops were providing security to visiting representatives of the UN Development Program (UNDP), who were there to meet local leaders on planned developmental projects.

The UNDP representatives were all safe as they were not in the area at the time of the attack, said Luzon.

He pointed a finger at the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which signed a peace deal with the government in 2014, ending decades of a bloody conflict in the southern Philippines.

The agreement paved the way for establishing the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.