Arroyo says offensive against militants in south may prompt attacks elsewhere

MANILA (AP) - A military offensive in Mindanao  may prompt al-Qaida-linked militants to sow terror elsewhere in the country, President Gloria Arroyo warned Tuesday, saying she has ordered the military and police to bolster security.

The government will not ease off the offensive despite calls from some sectors to halt the fighting because doing so would endanger the country's security, fail to give justice to slain soldiers and embolden terrorists, she said in her opening statement at a meeting of the National Security Council.

U.S.-backed troops bombarded Muslim rebel strongholds with artillery on Basilan island Sunday, a day after 15 marines and 40 militants were killed in a fierce clash, officials said.

The marines were killed when their unit attacked a jungle hide-out of the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group near Basilan's remote Ungkaya Pukan town, sparking a daylong clash during which an air force pilot also died when his helicopter crashed at sea, the military said.

The military claimed about 40 Abu Sayyaf insurgents were killed, including two commanders who allegedly took part in last month's beheadings of 10 marines on Basilan.

On nearby Jolo island, troops raided a suspected Abu Sayyaf safe house in Indanan township early Sunday and took into custody 19 men, women and children, army Maj. Gen. Ruben Rafael said. After questioning, 14 were released and investigators were trying to determine if the other five were Abu Sayyaf gunmen, he added.