Elite troops arriving in south

JOLO (AFP) - Elite troops trained by US special forces began arriving here Wednesday as the hunt for Muslim insurgents intensified in the restive south of the country.

More than 100 Scout Rangers arrived and headed to the west coast town of Indanan on Jolo island, close to where 26 soldiers were killed in separate ambushes last week, said a photographer on the scene.

Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, responsible for some of the country's worst terrorist attacks, and members of the Moro National Liberation Front were said to have been behind the ambushes.

The Scout Rangers are joining some 5,000 troops already on the island, where US special forces teams are also working as advisors to the military.