14 marines killed in southern Philippines fighting

Nine marines were also wounded in the nine-hour clash in Tipo-Tipo town in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila, on Tuesday.

Brigadier General Ramiro Alivio, marine brigade commander in Basilan, said 10 marines who went missing after the firefight were found dead early Wednesday.

He said the 10 were beheaded by the attackers, who included members of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

"It was raining hard and that made the movement of the soldiers quite difficult," he said. "We were outnumbered, that's why we suffered heavy casualties." 

Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Caculitan, a marines spokesman, said the other four fatalities occurred during the firefight.

"We were totally outnumbered and we had no time to recover any enemy casualties, but we have reports of dead and injured on their side," Caculitan said.

The marines, numbering about 50, had encountered around 300 Muslim rebels while on an operation to verify reports that abducted Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi was being held in the province.

Bossi, 57, was abducted on June 10 in Payao town in nearby Zamboanga Sibugay province. He was the third Italian priest kidnapped in the southern Philippines in the past 10 years. //Deutsche Presses Agentur (DPA)