Philippines 'training role' for U.S. troops

American troops in the southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- U.S. troops may take on an expanded role in helping to fight an outlaw Muslim group in the Philippines, the Philippine military says.

Nineteen U.S. soldiers are in the southern Philippines, where the Abu Sayyaf kidnap group is most active.

The Philippine military says the U.S. forces may conduct training exercises there.

The U.S. soldiers landed at the military air base in Zamboanga on Friday wearing camouflage fatigues and backpacks. The Americans had no visible firearms or insignia, according to The Associated Press news agency.

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The Abu Sayyaf claims to be fighting for an independent Muslim state in the south of the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines but the U.S. State Department has branded them terrorists.

On Friday, Philippine forces killed 11 members of the group in a fierce firefight on the southern island of Basilan.

The guerillas have been holding an American missionary couple and a Philippine nurse for more than six months.

An all-Filipino counter-terrorist force known as the Light Reaction Company (LRC), trained by U.S. military advisers, tracked down the Abu Sayyaf men on the outskirts of Isabela town on Friday.

A 15-minute gunfight erupted between the two, leading to the death of 11 rebels, Armed Forces Southern Command spokesman Lt. Col. Danilo Servando told CNN.

Two soldiers were wounded in the clash.

The U.S. forces were now "looking into the possibility of conducting training for another Light Reaction Company in Zamboanga," Lt. Col. Danilo Servando said.

He said training could begin "early next year" at a local military camp.

Abu Sayyaf suspects being held in the Philippines

The United States has said the Abu Sayyaf is linked to Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network, which it blames for the September 11 attacks in America.

"We have agreed that we will listen to U.S. experts and their advice," Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo told Reuters news agency.

"We should not be surprised if we will be seeing a lot of American soldiers showing up in Zamboanga, because that is where they are going to do the training."

She said the troops would not take a combat role in fighting the Abu Sayyaf.

"It's very clear that I had told [U.S. President George W. Bush] that I draw the line [at] soldiers on the ground, and that he respects the line I have drawn," Arroyo said.

The group has been holding the American missionary couple, Gracia and Martin Burnham, and a Filipina nurse hostage for more than six months on the island of Basilan, 950 km (600 miles) south of Manila. Isabela is the capital of Basilan.