By Kazi Mahmood, IOL South East Asia correspondent

JAKARTA, March 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - American military helicopters were involved in rescue operations for the first time in the joint war with the Philippines against Abu Sayyaf rebels who are fleeing the island of Basilan, news reports said on Sunday.

The entry of U.S. troops directly in the war indicates that the Americans are ready to take risks in the battle against the rag tag kidnap gang.

The helicopters help evacuate three wounded Filipino soldiers after a clash with Abu Sayyaf members that left one Filipino soldier dead, military officials said.

In the meantime, Abu Sayyaf is running away from southern Basilan Island, one of their strongholds.

Philippines troops are concentrating on the island, forcing the Abu Sayyaf to take refuge in other parts of the Sulu province. U.S. soldiers are also increasingly seen with local soldiers searching for the Abu Sayyaf.

About 660 U.S. soldiers are training Philippine troops to better fight the rebels and rescue two Americans and a Filipina held hostage for more than nine months.

Local military sources said most of the rebels are heading for Zamboanga in Mindanao.

The arrest of some kidnappers in areas outside Basilan showed that the bandits were trying to flee the military dragnet. Among them was Munib Assa, who had a U.S. $36,000 price tag on his head. He was arrested in Zamboanga on Tuesday.

On the other hand, the daily newspaper, Manila Times, quoted a Basilan official who claimed that American hostages Martin and Gracia Burnham were sighted on the outskirts of Lantawan at least twice this week.

One intelligence report said Ramzi Yousef, who masterminded the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, met Abu Sayyaf members in 1994 to offer training but backed away from them.

Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that the local authorities have arrested eight suspected terrorists allegedly linked to the Al-Qaeda network.

Among them are three Indonesians, one of which is an allegedly “confirmed member” of the Jemaah Islamiah, a cell with suspected links to the Al-Qaeda terror network, Philippine National Police Colonel Jaime Caringal said.

The three Indonesians were arrested at Manila airport late Wednesday while about to board a commercial flight for Bangkok and are now detained at the national police headquarters here. Also arrested are a Japanese national and three Middle Eastern suspects were also arrested.

Manila airport security personnel apprehended the suspects during metal detector checks at the entrance to the airport, the report said.