Eight Philippine marines have been killed, four of them beheaded, by Islamic rebels in the south of the country, the army says.
It says nine marines were injured and six others were missing after a clash near Tipo Tipo town on Basilan island.
Tuesday's clash took place as the army searched for a seized Italian priest.
The kidnappers are believed to be either Abu Sayyaf militants or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, seeking an independent Muslim state in the south.
Marine spokesman Lt Col Ariel Caculitan said the marines ran into a group of some 300 armed men during their search for the priest, triggering the clash.
Eight marines died during the fighting, four of them "were found to be beheaded," the spokesman said.
"We're still looking for the other six, but hopefully some of them may be alive," he said.
The priest, named as Giancarlo Bossi, was seized by armed men near the coastal village of Bulawan near Zamboanga on 10 June.
Eid Kabalu, a spokesman for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Wednesday confirmed that the group's members clashed with the marines, according to the AFP news agency.
But the rebel spokesman said the MILF was not involved in the kidnapping of the priest.
The MILF signed a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2003, but the authorities have in the past blamed rogue elements from the group for some abductions.
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