ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
At least 11 people were killed and 24 injured Thursday as Abu Sayyaf militants fought government troops to reclaim a former jungle stronghold in the southern Philippines.
Western Mindanao Command spokesperson Capt. Maria Rowena Muyuela said that 11 members of the Al Qaeda-linked terror group had died and 24 more were wounded early Thursday, bringing the death toll to 26 in clashes that began earlier this week.
She added that three marines had also been injured in the fighting in the jungles of the troubled island province of Sulu.
The spokesperson said heavy exchanges of grenade and mortar fire and the sporadic sound of sniper shots could still be heard at 4 p.m. as marines held out while militants sought to recapture the fortified camp.
On Tuesday, troops launched a raid on the Abu Sayyaf lair, overrunning the area in Sitio Kanjimao, Patikul, after confirming the presence of an undetermined number of Abu Sayyaf members.
On clearing the area, they found a camp heavily fortified with bunkers, while foxholes were strategically placed in different defensive positions -- "a haven where the group consolidated, met, and conducted the training of new recruits," Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Mindanao Command, said.
A military source told The Anadolu Agency that due to the camp's proximity to roads and trails, Abu Sayyaf was able to use it as a staging and rendezvous area for military activities, including kidnapping.
The source did not wish to be named as he was not authorized to speak to media.
The raid came in the wake of a local mayor asking U.S. President Barack Obama -- then on a two-day visit to the Philippines -- for continued support in the battle against "terrorism."
The Philippines military said Tuesday that operations against Abu Sayyaf, which is holding a number of kidnap victims, including a Chinese tourist and a Filipino dive resort employee seized in Malaysia, had intensified with Obama's visit.
Humanitarian emergency relief volunteers told the Anadolu Agency on Thursday that several Muslim families had been forced to flee to safer ground following the fighting.
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