Hard fight on Basilan

The Armed Forces of the Philippines went into action against an Abu Sayyaf base camp on Basilan Island yesterday, specifically pursuing Khair Mundus and Furuji Indama, two leaders of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorists. What they got was a nasty closequarters brawl of a battle... 23 soldiers and 20 militants dead...

The army's losses were the highest in a single day's combat for some years.

The fighting was a "slugfest", said Maj Gen Dolorfino. "It was really close-quarter fighting so we couldn't use our artillery," he told AP.

With the understanding that 400 Philippines troops were on the attack against a force of roughly 150 terrs, those kind of losses are an almost Pyrrhic victory. But considering the amount of explosives taken or destroyed, and the fact that the militants are on the run again back into the interior of the island, *maybe* it was worth it.

Hard work, fellows. Keep at it, and plan for better results next time you corner them.