MANILA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Two soldiers were killed and 12 others wounded in an ambush by gunmen in Basilan province in southern Philippines on Wednesday afternoon, an army general said.
Brigadier General Alvin Luzon, commander of the Philippine Army's 101st Brigade, said the gunmen sprayed bullets at an army vehicle carrying troops at around 4 p.m. local time in a remote village in Sumisip town, adding two attackers were shot dead but the number of wounded remained undetermined.
Luzon said the troops were providing security to the visiting representatives of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), who were there to meet with local leaders on planned developmental projects.
"The representatives of the UNDP were all safe as they were not in the area already during the incident," Luzon said.
Luzon said in a statement that the attack was supported by some members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The MILF signed a peace pact with the government in 2014, ending decades of bloody conflict in southern Philippines. The peace agreement paved the way for establishing the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. ■
