MANILA - The Philippine military said up to 20 rebels were killed at a fortified jungle hideout on Thursday, the fourth day of fierce fighting and bombing raids on the southwestern island of Jolo. The military said it suffered no casualties on Thursday. On Wednesday, it said 20 soldiers and nearly 40 rebels had been killed in the clashes since Monday.Nearly 4,000 troops have been battling about 800 fighters from the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebel group and renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) since the militants ambushed a convoy of soldiers in Patikul town. "There's still heavy fighting in the mountains of Panamao," Lieutenant-General Alberto Braganza, chief of the military's Southern Command, told reporters. "Our troops have encountered strong resistance from the rebels."
Braganza said soldiers recovered several bodies from the rebel hideout, adding up to 20 militants may have been killed in air strikes and artillery bombardments.
Earlier on Thursday, he brushed aside calls for a ceasefire from local Muslim leaders worried about
Abdurahman Jamasali, a former MNLF member, was sent by House of Representatives Speaker Jose de Venecia to talk to the rebels about a ceasefire. But Jamasali said intermittent skirmishes prevented him and Sulu provincial governor Benjamin Loong from seeking out rebel leaders because the military could not ensure their safety. "We were advised not to enter the rebels' positions," Jamasali told reporters.