Two soldiers killed, 5 injured in S. Philippine clash

Two government soldiers were killed while five others were injured in a firefight with members of a local extremists group led by Maute brothers in southern Philippine province of Lanao del Sur on Wednesday night, military said Thursday.

Filemon Tan, spokesman of the military's Western Mindanao Command, said the fighting occurred around 6:21 p.m. Wednesday in barangay Sandab in Butig town where troops from the 65th Infantry Battalion were going after the retreating terrorists.

Tan said the militants detonated an improvised bomb on the pursuing troops, ensuing the firefight between the soldiers and the undetermined number of enemy.

He said the militants fled after a brief fighting with undetermined number of casualties.

On Monday, Tan said at least 54 militants and two soldiers were killed in an ongoing military offensive operation started last Thursday in Lanao del Sur.

In February, government forces also launched an offensive against the Maute Group when the group's members attacked a military detachment in Butig town. Six soldiers died, one of them beheaded, and 11 others were wounded in the operation.

The military establishment initially reported that 42 terrorists were killed in the 11-day campaign but later said the number of "validated" terrorists who were slain in the operation was only 24.

The Maute Group, which has linkages with the Southeast Asian regional terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah, is blamed by the military for a number of bombings and extortion activities in the Lanao provinces. Endit