Thursday, July 14, 2016

Philippines: Army kills 11 Islamic terrorists

(Manila) Soldiers killed 11 members of an Islamic guerrilla group on Thursday, an army commander said.

Troops battled rebels of the small but violent Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters for hours on Mindanao island which also saw an 11-year-old girl get caught in crossfire and killed, said Colonel Cirilito Sobejana. "It's very unfortunate," Sobejana told reporters:
"In every war, there's really collateral damage. We cannot yet establish whose side had killed the girl."
Sobejana said army helicopters attacked the rebels with rockets and 19 of them were wounded. On the government side, he said two soldiers were wounded. The largely Christian Philippines has for decades been plagued by insurgencies by Muslim rebels in its southern islands.