MANILA: Two Philippine coastguard men held hostage by al-Qaeda-linked militants sprinted through gunfire to freedom as government forces raided the extremists’ hideout, killing 15 of them, the army said.
Gringo Villaruz and Allan Pagaling slipped separately from the Abu Sayyaf camp on Wednesday night and raced through the jungle as their captors engaged in a gun battle with an elite military force, said military spokesman Colonel Noel Detoyato.
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