Some 22 Philippine soldiers were wounded Saturday in a firefight with Islamic terrorists, the military said, a day after the release of a retired Italian priest taken hostage in the Muslim-populated south of the country.
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The Philippines' security forces have been hunting the hardline Abu Sayyaf group for two weeks in an operation launched across the southern Basilan and Jolo islands — two remote strongholds of the rebels in the mainly Catholic Asian nation.
Army soldiers were injured when clashes broke out early Saturday with up to 120 Abu Sayyaf gunmen in a remote rural village on the Basilan island, regional military spokesman Major Filemon Tan told reporters.
In a statement Tan added that the military "continues its intensified focused military operations in tracking down the ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) responsible for the series of kidnappings and atrocities in the area".
Basilian lies close to the Philippines' second biggest island of Mindanao.
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It came a day after former missionary Rolando del Torchio, held hostage for six months by suspected Islamic militants, was found aboard a ferry docked on Jolo.
The Abu Sayyaf is a small group of Islamic militants infamous for kidnapping foreigners and demanding huge ransoms, as well as for being behind deadly bombings in the country, where 80 percent of the population is Catholic.
Eighteen other foreign hostages are being held in the Philippines, most or all of them thought to be by the Abu Sayyaf.
Tan said Abu Sayyaf are led by Isnilon Hapilon who is wanted by the U.S. government for the kidnapping and murder of U.S. citizens. Hapilon has also pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Abu Sayyaf was established in the early 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
Retired Italian priest Rolando Del Torchio receives treatment at a military hospital in Zamboanga City after his release, April, 8. 2016. | Photo: Reuters