Gov't troops kill 3 Abu Sayyaf militants in S. Philippines

Three Abu Sayyaf militants were killed as they clashed with government forces Sunday morning in the southern province of Sulu, police and military said. Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, regional police director in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said that the fighting between the soldiers and Abu Sayyaf militants erupted in Indanan town as early as at 06:30 a.m. local time. "The bodies of slain militants have been recovered along with their weapons," said Latag. Randolph Cabangbang, spokesperson of the military's Western Mindanao Command, said the three killed militants wore assorted military-style uniforms. The Abu Sayyaf, active in southern Philippines, was founded in the 1990s and has perpetrated a number of high-profile attacks, including kidnapping, bombing and beheading. The Philippine military estimates the group, which has links with external terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda, currently has less than 400 members.