ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Islamweb & News Agencies) - At least 16 U.S. soldiers landed in the southern Philippines on Friday as Filipino troops battled religious extremists holding two American missionaries some 12 miles away.
It was unclear why the Americans had been dispatched amid an ongoing clash with Abu Sayyaf rebels that had left at least three guerrillas dead and one captured since it began around dawn.
Karen Kelley, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman, said she was unaware of the trip but that U.S. forces frequently are in the Philippines, a longtime American ally.
The United States has agreed to provide equipment and training for the Philippine military, one of Asia's poorest, in its pursuit of the Abu Sayyaf, which has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network. Local military officials have repeatedly said U.S. troops will not enter into combat with religious rebels in the Philippines.
Officials have said they hope to gain the release of Martin and Gracia Burnham, of Wichita, Kan., and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap by the end of December. The Burnhams have been held hostage for more than six months.
Elmer Cato, a Philippine official who monitors joint exercises with U.S. forces, said the Philippine air force advised his office that an American MC-130 transport plane had left Clark, a former American air base, and picked up the American troops in Manila before flying to Zamboanga.
He said he was informed that the Americans were involved in a follow-up to an earlier mission to assess the Philippines' military needs to fight the Abu Sayyaf.
Most of the Abu Sayyaf hostages were released or escaped but others have been beheaded.
The Abu Sayyaf claims to be fighting for Muslim independence but the government calls them mere bandits.