Deadly homeground advantage

Filipino soldiers are seen in the back of a military truck as they wait for orders during a military offensive in Jolo. -filepic

JUST over two minutes long, the video clip from the battleground in Jolo island in the southern Philippines is gory and gruesome.

Three Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) teenagers armed with M16 are shooting at an unseen enemy. A foreigner is heard shouting in Arabic to encourage an ASG sub-leader to butcher the body of an Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) soldier.