At least six militants were killed and 12 others were wounded in the nearly two-hour firefight, in which eight soldiers were also wounded, the military said.
President Rodrigo Duterte led a Friday ceremony to name Moro Islamic Liberation Front leader Murad Ebrahim and some of his top commanders as among 80 administrators of a transition government for the five-province region called Bangsamoro.
Complaints for murder and attempted murder were filed against the five, as well as several other suspected Abu Sayyaf fighters who remain at large, for their alleged role in the Jan. 27 attack at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral.
President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered government forces to destroy the Abu Sayyaf terrorist network after the bombing last Sunday of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in the Sulu provincial capital of Jolo that killed 22 people and wounded more than 100.
