ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
A marine sergeant has been killed, and six others were wounded when a landmine exploded near an army truck in an Abu Sayyaf island stronghold in the Philippines Muslim south.
A police intelligence officer from Jolo - who requested anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to media - told AA on Saturday that a platoon was aboard an M-35 truck on its way to pick up firewood when an improvised explosive device went off hitting the vehicle in Patikul township, Jolo island, Sulu on Friday.
The officer said the six wounded soldiers were airlifted to the Western Mindanao Command Hospital in Zamboanga City for treatment, while military forces attempted to track down those who had planted the device.
Earlier this week, the army said it had seized the Abu Sayyaf's main camp on the island in the mountains of Patikul after an intense firefight, dealing a major blow to the Al-Qaeda-linked group which has conducted kidnappings and armed raids in the southern Philippines for years.
Army chief Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero on Thursday described the seizure as a "tremendous blow to [the Abu Sayyaf] leadership and organization."
"It's as if their house has been taken hold of," he added.
Since 1991, the group - armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles - has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.
The threat was perceived to be so great that a year after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the U.S. military established the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines to help ill-equipped Filipino forces deal with the group, although under Philippine law they were not allowed to engage in direct combat.
Following the operation to seize the camp, Abu Sayyaf are believed to have scattered around the island.
Some of them are thought to remain on Sulu, while many may have fled to their second stronghold, the island province of Basilan, where several hostages have previously been held captive and some beheaded.
Both Sulu and Basilan are under the so-called Bangsamoro entity, which was agreed in a March 27 peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation (MILF) - the Philippines largest Muslim rebel group - which has been fighting for independence in Mindanao - the southern Philippines - for decades.
Under the agreement, the MILF agreed to end armed rebellion, but other rebel factions - including Abu Sayyaf and the Moro National Liberation Front - continue to fight on.
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