Philippine troops clash with Muslim militants in a gunbattle that has left at least eight dead

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (AP) — Philippine troops have clashed with Muslim militants in a gunbattle that has left at least seven soldiers and two rebels dead in a fog-shrouded hinterland in the south. Military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said Monday that four other soldiers were wounded in the army offensive a day earlier against fighters of the Dawlah Islamiyah, a small armed group aligned with the Islamic State group, near Munai town in Lanao del Norte province. The military has killed 18 Dawlah Islamiyah fighters, reportedly including its leader, in a series of military offensives after the group was blamed for a Dec. 3 bombing that left four people dead and 50 others wounded while attending a Catholic Mass at the Mindanao State University, also in the south.