8 Sayyaf rebels slain

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Eight members of the extremist Abu Sayyaf group were killed as the military stepped up their assault on the kidnapping group in the southern island of Sulu, military sources said yesterday.

Helicopter gunships blasted Abu Sayyaf positions as soldiers pressed on with their offensive in the towns of Patikul and Talipao, two former strongholds of the outlaw band which went on a kidnapping spree earlier this year and are still holding American Jeffrey Schilling and Filipino dive master Roland Ullah hostage.

Three rebels were killed in Talipao and five in Patikul on Friday, the military said. At least one soldier was also wounded in the fighting. — AFP, Roel Pareño