MANILA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- A soldier was killed and another 10 wounded in a fighting between the government troops and Islamist extremists in the southern Philippines, the military said on Thursday.
Brig. Gen. Divino Rey Pabayo, chief of the Joint Task Force Sulu (JTFS), said troops clashed with some 60 members of the Abu Sayyaf group at around 1:55 p.m. on Wednesday in a remote village of Patikul town in the jungle of Patikul town in Sulu province.
Pabayo said the fighting that lasted for two hours also left undetermined number of militants dead as they fled the village.
He said a pursuit operations have been launched to track down the militants which have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The troops were in the area to locate the 10 hostages being held by the militants, including a Dutch national, a Vietnamese, three Indonesians and at least five Filipinos.