Police, military pursue Abu rebels after ambush in Jolo

Soldiers and police are pursuing Muslim extremists who ambushed a group of police on a southern Philippine island, killing an officer and two government militiamen, officials said Wednesday.Two officers who were reported missing after the attack Tuesday outside Maimbung town on Jolo Island were later found unharmed, said acting Jolo provincial police Chief Superintendent Hakam Pae.

Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf gunmen manning a checkpoint fired at the officers and militiamen, who were on their way to pacify warring families in a village outside Maimbung, killing two militiamen and one officer and wounding three others.

Pae said Wednesday that soldiers and police were pursuing the guerrillas, but had not yet made contact.

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