ZAMBOANGA/COTABATO CITY , 7 November — Several gunmen and a government militiaman had been slain in clashes in the southern Philippines over the past days, military officials said yesterday.

Among those killed were six suspected kidnappers of an Italian priest, said Brig. Gen. Angel Atutubo, head of a task force formed to rescue Fr. Guiseppe Pierantoni.

Atutubo said the clash erupted on Monday in the village of Pangi in Zamboanga Sibugay province, 790 kilometers south of Manila.

"Six gunmen were killed in the firefight, which lasted for two hours," he said. "There were no casualties on the military side."

Atutubo said the six slain gunmen were suspected members of a kidnapping-for-ranson syndicate, called the "Pentagon," which abducted Pierantoni on Oct. 17 while he was conducting mass in the town of Dimataling in nearby Zamboanga del Sur province.

Another official said three gunmen and a militiaman were also killed during a gunbattle patrolling in Baliguian town in Zamboanga del Norte province on Sunday.

Soldiers and militiamen were patrolling when they ran into suspected members of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), regional deputy operations chief Col. Francisco Gudani said.

Priest very weak

Atutubo said intelligence reports indicated that the 44-year-old Pierantoni was being held in a hideout between the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.

"Troops are tracking down the kidnappers and the hostage," he said.

"The rescue operation is ongoing." A spokesman for the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said Pierantoni was already very weak and unable to walk.

Eid Kabalu said MILF rebels recently sighted the abducted priest in the town of Kapatagan in North Cotabato, near Maguindanao.

"The priest is very weak and could not walk," he said.

Last week, local church officials dispatched an emissary to deliver medicines, a pair of rubber shoes and a jacket for Pierantoni, who was reportedly suffering from diarrhea and amoebiasis.

Kabalu reiterated the MILF’s offer to help rescue the priest and hunt down the kidnappers, who have demanded a 10-million-peso ($200,000) ransom, despite the military’s accusations that the rebel group may be involved in the abduction.

"We have to help because these kidnappings are affecting the peace talks," he said. "We are black and blue with accusations because of these kidnappings."

Pierantoni has been working in the southern region of Mindanao for more than 10 years and has been assigned in Dimataling for the last three years. The Pentagon syndicate was also responsible for the kidnapping of four Chinese nationals who were mostly working for a Japanese-funded irrigation project in Maguindanao, and a Filipino-Chinese trader. Two of the Chinese nationals were killed.