Government soldiers clashed with Al Qaeda-linked militants in the jungles of southern Philippine island of Jolo early Sunday morning, leaving four militants killed and two soldiers injured, an army official said, according to Xinhua.
Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commander of the military's Joint Task Force Comet, said the 100 soldiers initiated the fight at a village near Parang town, a stronghold of the 340-member Abu Sayyaf group.
The militants, led by Albader Parad and Dr. Abu, are the ones holding an Italian Red Cross employee they kidnapped five months ago.
Sabban said the clash lasted about one hour and the militants fled as 200 more troopers came to reinforce.
Three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC) -- Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba -- were kidnapped in Patikul town of Sulu province on Jan. 15 after the team conducted a humanitarian mission there.
Lacaba was released by the bandits on April 2 while Notter escaped weeks later.
When asked if Vagni was with the encountered group, Sabban answered in the negative, saying Vagni is in a separate area.