Three soldiers were wounded in an encounter with still unidentified armed group in the province of Basilan on Thursday morning.

Col. Gerry Besana, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom), said the clash happened at the boundary of Barangay Sabong and Campo Uno, Lamitan City at 10:15 am.

Besana said, based on initial report, troops were "traversing the road from Lamitan to Macalang Patrol Base in Macalang, Al-barka, (when) 3 personnel of the Bravo Company of the 74th Infantry Battalion were engaged by unidentified armed group."

"Troops situated at Sabong Detachment promptly responded and evacuated the wounded soldiers to St. Peter’s Hospital, Lamitan City for immediate medical attention," he said.

Besana said government troops were pursuing the attackers.

"Pursuit operation is now being conducted to neutralize the perpetrators," he said. Robina Asido/DMS