Marines Ambushed in Philippines

June 17 -- U.S. ground troops in the Philippines faced their first firefight today since being deployed to the area in February, Pentagon officials said. No U.S. forces were reported injured in the attack.

About 10 unknown men opened fire on two U.S. Marines guarding a construction site on the southern Philippine island of Basilan.The Marines are part of a contingent of about 1,000 U.S. troops and military engineers helping build roads, water systems and airstrips in the dense jungle area, in addition to training Filipino soldiers.

Military sources told Reuters the attack came just before 6 p.m. local time in the village of Kumalarang, which lies on the outskirts of Basilan's provincial capital of Isabela, about 650 miles from Manila.

Pentagon officials said the marines, along with Philippine forces, returned fire and killed an unknown number of enemy fighters. Filipino law allows U.S. troops to fire only in self-defense.

Two U.S. Chinook helicopters took off from an airbase in the southern city of Zamboanga bound for Basilan on a unknown mission shortly after the incident, Reuters reported.

Ties to Al Qaeda

Basilan has been home to Muslim extremists, including the Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group, which the United States alleges is connected to indicted terrorist Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network.

As part of the ongoing war on terrorism, U.S. special forces have been training Filipino fighters to combat the Abu Sayyaf. The United States' deployment of 1,200 soldiers in the Philippines for the war on terror has been second in size only to its deployment in Afghanistan.

Ten U.S. Servicemen were killed in February when a Chinook helicopter delivering troops and equipment to Basilan crashed into the sea.

Kidnappings for Ransom

In the past decade, the Abu Sayyaf, Arabic for "Father of the Sword," has been responsible for a series of high-profile kidnappings from tourist resorts in the region.

In May 2001, Martin and Gracia Burnham, an American missionary couple from Wichita, Kan., were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf and held captive for 13 months. The June 7 rescue attempt resulted in a two-hour gun battle that left Martin Burnham and a Filipina nurse dead and Burnham's wife, Gracia Burnham, wounded.