WORLD BRIEFING / PHILIPPINES
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Philippine troops stormed a jungle hide-out of Muslim militants, killing at least two rebel commanders and eight gunmen allegedly involved in a wave of kidnappings for ransom in the troubled south, officials said.
An army officer who helped lead the offensive in a mountainous region near Mohamad Ajul township on Basilan island also died. Three suspected militants were taken in for questioning, said navy Commodore Alex Pama, who heads a regional anti-kidnapping force.
The target was a group of Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants and local gangsters believed to have been involved in the recent beheading of a kidnapped farmer and the abduction of three teachers who were freed Tuesday.
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