Saturday, May 06, 2006

3 Wounded In Jolo Attack

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Al Jacinto / 06 May) -- Two government soldiers and a civilian were seriously wounded when an unidentified gunman attacked them in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, a known stronghold of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, officials said on Saturday.

Officials said the attack at KM 2 in Indanan town left two soldiers, assigned with the Army's 51st Infantry Battalion wounded, and that a civilian near the area was also injured.

"The attack occurred shortly before noontime Thursday and two our soldiers and a civilian were wounded," said Air Force Captain Jose Ritchie Pabilonia, a spokesman for the Southern Command.

Pabilonia did not identify the soldiers, but they were shot in the face and head and still in serious condition at a military hospital in Jolo. The condition of the civilian, Amil Katra Mohammad, is still unknown.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the ambush, but the area is a known lair of the Abu Sayyaf and renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front, both blamed in previous attacks on security forces.

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