Associated Press
TABIAWAN ARMY BASE, Philippines — U.S. military medics flew into a combat zone Thursday to treat and evacuate seven Filipino soldiers wounded in a clash with Muslim extremists in the southern Philippines.
The fight broke out Thursday morning near the coconut growing village of Bolansa on the southern island of Basilan, Philippine military spokesman Maj. Noel Detoyato said.
It spread more than a mile to the nearby Upper Manggas area, close to where six U.S. special forces members bunk with 50 Filipinos and their battalion commander in a sandbagged, hilltop base.
The clash with rebels of the Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaida-linked group infamous for beheading captives, is the third in the area since Friday. At least 12 Filipinos were wounded and one killed. The army says at least four guerrillas were killed, six captured and several wounded.
Two Filipino Huey helicopters were sent in with two U.S. medics to treat the wounded and fly them to a hospital before sundown Thursday, Detoyato said.
The helicopters land in "an area safe from gunfire," he said.
It was the third time in a week the U.S. soldiers entered danger zones on medical missions to remote Basilan island.
Philippine army Col. Jessie Dellosa said the firefight started when 60 elite Philippine Scout Rangers patrolling coconut groves known to shelter guerrillas encountered 20 members of the Abu Sayyaf group, which has been linked to the international al-Qaida network.
About 660 U.S. troops, including 160 special forces members, are in the southern Philippines to train Filipino soldiers battling the Abu Sayyaf, who hold Wichita, Kan., missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham hostage along with Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap.
The Americans are allowed to carry weapons but are only allowed to fire in self defense.
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