ZAMBOANGA CITY—Nine soldiers were killed while two others were wounded in an ambush staged by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf bandits in the hinterlands of Sulu on Thursday.

The ambush took place a day after government forces clashed with the bandits in the town of Parang, resulting in the death of an Army soldier and the wounding of five others.

Reports said the soldiers were on- board a military truck when they were waylaid by the bandits around 7:30 a.m. in the town of Maimbung.

The casualties belong to the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion, one of the military units deployed to pursue the Abu Sayyaf bandits sheltering Jema’ah Islamiyah terrorists Umar Patek and Dulmatin.

Maj. Eugenio Batara Jr., Western Mindanao Command information officer, said pursuit operations have been launched against the ambushers, who are believed to be followers of Abu Sayyaf leader Radulan Sahiron.

Sahiron is the oldest among the surviving Abu Sayyaf leaders based in the island province of Sulu.

Other lawless elements were believed to have aided the Abu Sayyaf bandits in staging the ambush.

Batara said that one of Sahiron’s trusted men, Marad Astig, was killed in a clash Wednesday afternoon in barangay Sinugan, Indanan town.

A soldier was killed while five others were wounded in that clash in barangay Sinugan.

Two Marines were wounded on Tuesday in an encounter with the bandits on Mount Tubora, Indanan.

Thousands of troops are scouring the hinterlands of Sulu in search for Patek and Dulmatin and the remaining leaders and members of the Abu Sayyaf bandits, who are responsible for kidnappings and beheading of hostages in the past years.

Patek and Dulmatin were tagged as the masterminds in the 2002 resort bombing in Bali, Indonesia, that killed 2002 people, mostly Australians.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Nine soldiers were killed while two others were wounded in an ambush staged by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf bandits in the hinterlands of Sulu on Thursday.

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has invited the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and the entire broadcast industry to take part in formulating the guidelines for digital and mobile television services.

THE heavy downpour has helped improve the water levels at the National Power Corp.’s (Napocor) multipurpose dams to nearly reach the rule curve or ideal volume.

A GROUP of tribesmen opposed to mining on Thursday reiterated its call to scrap the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

THE ratification hearings on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) will focus on at least four issues: free trade, the entry of Filipino workers in Japan, environmental impact and its effect on existing agreements under the World Trade Organization, Sen. Mar Roxas II said on Thursday.

APPARENTLY pressured by accusations that it is involved in extrajudicial killings, which it repeatedly denied, the Armed Forces has started pre-trial investigation against personnel and officers accused of human-rights violations.

CABANATUAN CITY—The Philippines does not need climate change to get under water—just one typhoon and vast areas go under, and in the case of Chedeng, the weather disturbance that just left the country, Central Luzon’s backbone Maharlika Highway became impassable, jamming thousands of vehicles not only because of the water, but also because of the roadside trees toppled by high winds that blocked the highway.