Eight militants killed in clashes with Philippine army

At least eight members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militant group have been killed in clashes with security forces in the southern Philippines, the military says.

A Filipino counter-terrorism task force killed the militants on the remote island of Jolo on Friday, Ensign Chester Ramos, the spokesman for the task group, confirmed on Saturday.

Thirteen members of the special force were also injured in the violence, the official said.

The militants were followers of Radullan Sahiron, a one-armed militant.

Ramos further said the Filipino task force has been engaged in fierce clashes with Sahiron’s group of about 100 gunmen around the town of Patikul over the past week.

The al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf is a small group of extremists who operate in the Philippines.

Founded in the 1990s, the militant group has been blamed for the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines’ recent history, including the 2004 bombing of a ferry that left more than 100 dead, abductions of foreign missionaries and tourists and beheadings of local people.