菲律賓軍隊與伊斯蘭激進分子衝突至少15人死亡

Philippine officials say at least 15 people have been killed during fighting between government troops and Islamist militants in a remote southern region.

The fighting began Tuesday and continued into early Wednesday in the town of Patikul on the island province of Sulu, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf militants.

The military says the fighting broke out when Abu Sayyaf fighters attempted to retake a jungle camp captured by government troops Monday.

Officials say the Islamist advance was successfully driven back, although at least one soldier was among those killed in the clashes.

The Islamist group is thought to have ties to al-Qaida fighters and has been blamed for a series of attacks and kidnappings in the Philippines.

Hostages are sometimes kept in the jungle camps. None were reported to be found, however.

Abu Sayyaf is among many small Islamist groups in the southern Philippines opposed to a peace deal between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.菲律賓官員說，政府軍與伊斯蘭激進分子在南部一個偏遠地區爆發戰鬥，至少15人死亡。

戰鬥於星期二爆發，一直持續到星期三清晨，地點是蘇祿省的帕迪庫爾鎮，那裏是阿布沙耶夫激進分子的根據地。

菲律賓軍方說，阿布沙耶夫戰鬥人員試圖奪回政府軍星期一攻佔的一個叢林營地，從而引發戰鬥。

有關官員說，政府軍擊退了伊斯蘭激進分子的進攻，但至少一名政府軍士兵在衝突中陣亡。

據信阿布沙耶夫組織與基地組織戰鬥人員有聯繫，該組織被指在菲律賓進行了一系列襲擊和綁架活動。

人質有時被扣押在叢林營地，但從來沒有關於人質被找到的報道。

阿布沙耶夫是菲律賓南部很多伊斯蘭小組織之一。這些組織反對馬尼拉與摩洛伊斯蘭解放陣線簽訂和平協議。