ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 18 Jul) A policeman was killed and three others wounded in an attack Tuesday by gunmen clad in camouflage uniform in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, police said.
Police said two others were missing and that security forces were sent to the town of Maimbung where the attack had occurred. No group claimed responsibility for the ambush, but the attack came just two days after gunmen also killed a government soldier in Jolo.
It was not immediately known whether the missing policemen were taken hostage or had escaped the ambush, but a team of policemen had been deployed to search for duo.
The island is a known stronghold of the militant Abu Sayyaf group, blamed for the spate of killings of soldiers and bombings in the restive region.
Unidentified gunmen also shot dead three army soldiers in separate attacks in Jolo earlier this month. One of the soldiers was heading home on a motorcycle when two gunmen ambushed him in the village of Kasalamatan near downtown Jolo.
The two other soldiers were ambushed in the village of Anuling in Jolo's Patikul town.
Last month, troops disarmed powerful Abu Sayyaf bomb planted near the Pitogo Elementary School in Jolo's Kalingalang Kaluang town.
The United States has offered as much as $5 million bounty for known Abu Sayyaf commanders, including its chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, and Manila also put up P100 million bounties for the capture of the group's leaders and their members dead or alive. The US included the group on its list of foreign terrorist organizations.
Dozens of people have been killed in gun attacks and bombings on the island since last year. Kidnappings-for-ransom, largely blamed by authorities to the Abu Sayyaf, and clan war are also rampant in Jolo.
Police said two others were missing and that security forces were sent to the town of Maimbung where the attack had occurred. No group claimed responsibility for the ambush, but the attack came just two days after gunmen also killed a government soldier in Jolo.
It was not immediately known whether the missing policemen were taken hostage or had escaped the ambush, but a team of policemen had been deployed to search for duo.
The island is a known stronghold of the militant Abu Sayyaf group, blamed for the spate of killings of soldiers and bombings in the restive region.
Unidentified gunmen also shot dead three army soldiers in separate attacks in Jolo earlier this month. One of the soldiers was heading home on a motorcycle when two gunmen ambushed him in the village of Kasalamatan near downtown Jolo.
The two other soldiers were ambushed in the village of Anuling in Jolo's Patikul town.
Last month, troops disarmed powerful Abu Sayyaf bomb planted near the Pitogo Elementary School in Jolo's Kalingalang Kaluang town.
The United States has offered as much as $5 million bounty for known Abu Sayyaf commanders, including its chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, and Manila also put up P100 million bounties for the capture of the group's leaders and their members dead or alive. The US included the group on its list of foreign terrorist organizations.
Dozens of people have been killed in gun attacks and bombings on the island since last year. Kidnappings-for-ransom, largely blamed by authorities to the Abu Sayyaf, and clan war are also rampant in Jolo.
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