Ferocious battles between Philippine troops and Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines. A total of seven Philippine soldiers killed in the incident.

In the incident which occurred before dawn local time, the Filipino soldiers exchanged gunfire with members of Abu Sayyaf group in one of their hideouts in Jolo Island.

“The shootout is fierce and the troops faced a large group of Abu Sayyaf,” army spokesman on the island of Jolo, Lt. Col. Randolf Cabangbang told reporters as quoted by AFP news agency on Thursday (07/28/2011).

It is said Cabangbang, it seems the soldiers accidentally entered the camp of the Abu Sayyaf while they are pursuing several militants.

“I think what happened was, the troops are conducting maneuvers in the night and morning they realized they were in the camps (Abu Sayyaf). That explains why we suffered so many casualties,” he said.

In addition to killing seven soldiers, gunfire also wounded 21 other Filipino soldiers. Not yet known whether there is Abu Sayyaf casualties is touted Al-Qaeda linked terrorist network that.