Nine soldiers and one civilian were killed in a surprise attack launched by unidentified gunmen in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, a TV station in Manila reported on Sunday.

The shooting rampage occurred at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday inside a small military camp in a remote village in Parang town of Sulu, the ABS-CBN TV reported.

The TV report said that the military initially implemented an information blackout over the attack.

The spokesman for the Philippine Army Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres later confirmed the report in a separate interview with the GMA news network.

The attacked military outpost was being manned by a platoon of soldier, Torres added. But he said the information on the number and identities of the gunmen are still unavailable.

"We cannot ascertain yet what really happened. It was very dark. ..there is still no confirmation if the attackers were Abu Sayyaf rebels...investigation is still on going," he said.

The attack also reportedly wounded another soldier and a civilian. There were no immediate reports of casualties on the part of the attackers.

Sulu is an alleged lair of the extremist Abu Sayyaf Group and some operatives of the Jemaah Islamiyah, a southeast Asian terror organization.

Since August last year, nearly 10,000 Filipino soldiers have been deployed for their continuous offensive against the terrorists in the region.

Source: Xinhua