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                          11 Dead in Philippines Clash

   Authorities in the southern Philippines say at least 11 people have
   been killed in a clash between government troops and a Muslim militant
   gang.
   Military spokesman Brigadier General Domingo Tutaan said seven
   Philippine marines and at least four members of the al-Qaida-linked Abu
   Sayyaf group died early Saturday in a firefight on the outskirts of
   Patikul town on the island of Jolo.
   Tutaan said at least nine other marines were wounded in the
   close-quarters fight.
   Abu Sayyaf, long active in the southern Philippines, first appeared in
   the 1990s and is listed as a terrorist organization by Washington and
   Manila. It is accused of carrying out some of the worst terrorist
   attacks in recent Philippine history.
   The group, which uses kidnappings and extortion to raise money, claimed
   responsibility for the 2004 bombing of a ferry near Manila Bay that
   killed more than 100 people. The group is thought to have fewer than
   400 members.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/11-dead-in-philippines-clash/1668146.html