Philippine troops on Sunday rescued four Filipino hostages held by Muslim Abu Sayyaf gunmen on southern Basilan island following a fierce firefight, the military said.
But the rebels were still holding nine Filipinos and American Christian missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham in Basilan's rough jungle terrain.
The skeletal remains of a third American, Guillermo Sobero of California, were found last week, months after the rebels said they beheaded him as an "independence day" gift to the government in June.
The Americans were seized in May from a beach resort along with a group of Filipinos, most of whom had been freed allegedly after ransom payments.
Soldiers caught up with the main Abu Sayyaf group in the village of Lumbang in Basilan's Lantawan town before dawn Sunday, triggering a running gunbattle.
Hostages Joel Guillo, Reynaldo Ariston, Ruben Baldesamos and Rodrigo Solon were rescued in the middle of the firefight, which also wounded two soldiers.
A seven-year-old boy was also killed while his father and a woman and her son were wounded as the fleeing rebels indiscriminately fired on a cluster of huts, the military said. There were no immediate reports of rebel casualties.
"This is a very positive development because it shows our troops are getting better and getting more familiar with the terrain and that the enemy is getting weaker," armed forces spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan said of the rescue.
He said operations were continuing in Basilan, where civilians have been providing government intelligence with information on the whereabouts of the group.
The military expects "a big accomplishment by way of recovering (the remaining) hostages and inflicting heavy casualties on the terrorist group" in the coming days, even as troops are also on heightened alert for retaliatory actions, Adan said.
The rescued captives were taken to an army headquarters just outside Isabela, the capital of Basilan, where they ate corned beef and rice for their first real meal in months. They were later debriefed and underwent medical tests.
They looked haggard and wore faded jeans as they tearfully embraced their relatives who had flocked to the camp to meet them, officials said.
"Reunions like these are very emotional, but we must not forget that their recovery came about with a heavy prices, a lot of them (soldiers) were wounded to effect this rescue," Adan stressed.
One of the freed captives said Burnham and his wife appeared to be weak and mentally drained.
"Martin Burnham is being tied up every night. He is the only one being heavily guarded. Both his hands are tied while Gracia is always crying. They are very weak," said Joel Guillo, a hospital worker seized by the rebels in a June raid in the mostly Christian town of Lamitan.
"Life in the mountain is harsh, we had to eat bananas if we could not find rice. We walked endlessly, but Jesus Christ saved us. I wish this never happens again to us and our families," he said.
The three other hostages were among more than a dozen plantation workers seized by the Abu Sayyaf.
They have beheaded at least 14 other Basilan captives in retaliation for President Gloria Arroyo's military assault.
More than 5,000 troops are scouring Basilan in an offensive that has left scores of casualties on both sides.
On Saturday, the rebels seized two Christian farmers in Basilan and beheaded them in an apparent attempt to divert the military.
The Abu Sayyaf was formed in the early 1990s with seed money from Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Military southern command chief Lieutenant General Roy Cimatu said the hostages told the debriefing that two Yemeni nationals had stayed with the Abu Sayyaf in the past two months.
The Yemenis were seen leading the Abu Sayyaf in celebrating after the September 11 terror attacks in the United States, he said -- Isabela, Philippines,(AFP)
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