Islamic militants killed 14 Philippine marines searching for a kidnapped Italian priest during a major gunbattle and later beheaded 10 of them, the military said yesterday.
The troops were ambushed on the southern island of Basilan by a joint force from the Philippines' main Islamic rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, a marine spokesman said.
Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Caculitan said 14 marines were killed in the eight-hour clash, increasing an earlier death toll after more bodies were recovered. Ten had been discovered beheaded, he told reporters in Manila.
"All 10 marines earlier reported missing have been found dead," Caculitan said, without explaining the discrepancy in numbers.
"All were beheaded," he said.
He said earlier six were still missing after the gunbattle with about 200 militants near Tipo-Tipo town on Tuesday.
Some of the beheaded marines had been found by provincial authorities in Basilan and been turned over to the military, other marines said.
Another nine marines were injured in the clash.
Intelligence reports said Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi, 57, was being kept in an area where MILF forces were known to operate and the troops had been sent in to investigate, regional Marine Commander Colonel Ramiro Alivio said.
Approximately 80 marines clashed heavily with 300 MILF militants backed by Abu Sayyaf fighters, after arriving there early on Tuesday, Alivio said.
"We can confirm 14 were killed and nine were wounded," Alivio said. "All of our men have [now] been accounted for."
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu acknowledged the group's fighters clashed with the military, but he denied Abu Sayyaf militants were involved and accused the troops of violating a ceasefire by entering an MILF area.
Bossi was seized by heavily armed men near his parish church in southern Zamboanga on June 10.
The government had earlier said his kidnappers could either be Abu Sayyaf men or renegade members of the MILF. The MILF has denied any involvement in the abduction and initially helped in the hunt for Bossi's captors.
Kabalu stressed that his group had long cut links to Abu Sayyaf militants, who are known for mutilating their victims.
"The MILF is not involved in the Bossi kidnapping. This we say loud and clear," Kabalu said by telephone from his base in the southern Philippines.
The Roman Catholic news agency Asianews said on Tuesday it doubted that Abu Sayyaf militants were involved in the kidnapping. It said it was more likely he was being held by a criminal gang.
RSS