RP Military, US Embassy Say No American Soldiers In Marine Convoy Attacked By Sayyaf In Sulu Island

US and Philippine soldiers pass a village in the southern Philippine island of Sulu in this photo taken in April 27, 2008. Philippine troops, aided by US military intelligence, are pursuing suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen who ambushed a marine convoy on Saturday, August 31, 2008 in Sulu's Patikul town killing four soldiers and wounding ten more. The Guam Army National Guard says one of its servicemen, from the 294th Infantry Regiment, who was with the convoy, is unhurt in the attack. The Philippine military and US Embassy insisted no US soldiers were in the attacked convoy. American troops are active in humanitarian missions and training and assisting local soldiers in defeating terrorism in the southern Philippines on the request of the Philippine government. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 1, 2008) – The Philippine military on Monday denied that a US soldier was with a marine convoy attacked by suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the southern island of Sulu.

Four Filipino marines were killed and ten more wounded in the weekend attack near a military base in the village of Bonbon in Patikul town.

The Guam Army National Guard released a brief statement Saturday, confirming that a local serviceman was unharmed following an attack on his unit on the island.

The US soldier was not identified, but the Guam Army National Guard said the serviceman is attached to a platoon with the 294th Infantry Regiment deployed in May in Sulu to aide in the ongoing conflict there. The report was also in the Guam media.

The Philippine military and the US Embassy in Manila insisted no US soldiers were in the attacked convoy.

Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commander of the Filipino Joint Task Force Comet in Sulu Island, said no US soldiers were in the convoy, but some of them aided the local troops wounded in the ambush.

“He was inside the camp. Maybe he got so excited that he thought that he was part of the ambush. The only elements ambushed were the first two vehicles.

Yes, they were there because we are partners in humanitarian assistance project and they just turned over a school a few hundred meters away from the ambush site,” Sabban said in a television interview, referring to US troops.

“The Americans have been helping us in doing all these humanitarian assistance. They were there in our battalion headquarters,” he said.

Sabban said US troops were active in humanitarian missions in Sulu and are not allowed to join combat operations.

Rebecca Thompson, a US embassy spokesperson, also denied that American soldiers were near the ambush site, but admitted they helped evacuate wounded Filipino troops to safety.

American troops are training and assisting local soldiers in defeating terrorism in the troubled South on the request of the Philippine government. (Mindanao Examiner)