Gov't reports heavy military losses with 26 dead, 17 wounded

MANILA (AFP) - Philippine troops have suffered some of their heaviest casualties in decades of fighting insurgencies this week with the loss of 26 soldiers, officials acknowledged Friday.

Since Tuesday the military have suffered 26 dead and 17 wounded in fighting on the southern island of Jolo, said military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Bartolome Bacarro.

One gunman was confirmed killed in the fighting Thursday, although "intelligence reports" indicate the enemy death toll could be as high as 27, said Philippine Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres.

The troops recovered only one body, he told reporters. The military says the rebels drag away their slain comrades.

Three members of the Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic militant group with alleged ties to the Al-Qaeda network, were killed in Jolo on Wednesday.

The heaviest military casualties of the week occurred in two ambushes near the Jolo town of Maimbung on Thursday, leaving 20 soldiers and a civilian dead.

The military said the attackers were understood to be members of the Moro National Liberation Front, a separatist guerrilla force that signed a peace treaty with Manila in 1996, and members of the the Abu Sayyaf.

The Philippines has been rushing troops to the south since July 10 for a planned punitive campaign against Muslim rebels after 14 Marines were killed on Basilan island. Ten of them were beheaded.

The Abu Sayyaf has been responsible for numerous attacks on Christians and foreigners throughout the Philippines in recent years.

The military has been on an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo island since last year and has killed two major Abu Sayyaf leaders since.

The Abu Sayyaf and members of another Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were behind the July 10 attack and beheadings, the military and government have said.

The MILF, which is supposed to be observing a three year-old ceasefire, has admitted killing the Marines but denied beheading them.

More than 23,000 villagers living near MILF camps in Basilan have fled their homes for fear of getting caught up in any possible government attack.

Despite the heightening of tensions, government peace negotiators have said they expect to reopen peace talks with the MILF in Malaysia before the end of this month.