MANILA (AP) – Philippine forces rescued two of three Indonesian hostages on Sunday (Dec 22) after a gunbattle with their captors from the Muslim militant group Abu Sayyaf in the southern jungles, a regional military commander said.

A soldier and a militant were killed in two successive firefights at dawn that allowed troops to rescue the two Indonesians in the mountainous hinterlands off Panamao town in Sulu province, said Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana.