Manila - A US soldier was killed Tuesday in a landmine explosion in the southern Philippines where American troops were helping their Filipino counterparts hunt down Islamic militants, a military spokesman said. A second American soldier and three Filipino troopers were injured in the blast that struck a Hummer jeep of US forces in Indanan town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner said.
Brawner said there were no suspects yet, but Jolo island is a stronghold of al-Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels who have been the subject of US-backed counter-terrorism operations by the Philippine military.
No additional details on the incident were immediately available, Brawner said.
"We are investigating the incident," US Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson added.
Hundreds of US forces have been stationed in the southern Philippines since 2002 under a visiting forces agreement forged between Manila and Washington in 1998.
Philippine legislators, however, are demanding a renegotiation of the agreement which they noted failed to specify the period of stay of visiting US forces and define what activities they can engage in while in the country.
