MANILA, 15 October — Government troops intensified yesterday their assault against Moro separatists in the southern Philippines as military officials warned the rebels were forging a new “terrorist” alliance numbering close to 700 members.

Soldiers began a massive ground assault after artillery and airstrikes on rebel positions in Lanao del Sur province and officials placed the rebel death toll yesterday at 30.

Brig. Gen. Eduardo Purificacion, the military spokesman, said hundreds of rebels have converged in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur, 810 kilometers south of Manila, since August.

He said the recent cooperation between militant groups prompted the pre-emptive assault on their base last weekend.

“We have been monitoring the activities of terrorist groups in (the southern region of) Mindanao and our intelligence committee was able to confirm the existence of at least 630 to 700 terrorists in Sultan Gumander (town) in Lanao del Sur,” he said.

Purificacion said the bulk of the armed men in the area were members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group fighting for the establishment of a separate Islamic state in Mindanao.

“There’s a collusion of forces,” he said. “So we are trying to pre-empt any unforeseen attacks that the terrorists might conduct in Mindanao.”

He said among those spotted in the rebel camp were Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon and renegade members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which signed a peace agreement with the government in 1996.

“Since August, we’ve been receiving information about the massing up of terrorists in the area. We noticed that the groups are coming from all directions in Mindanao.”

Lt. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, the military commander for Mindanao, said the MILF training of fighters within a fortified camp in Lanao del Sur was a violation of a cease-fire agreement with the government.

“We have information from witnesses that there were many Yakan and Tausug speaking men in the camp in Lanao del Sur,” Carolina added.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied the military’s assessment that a new terrorist alliance was being formed by the MILF, the MNLF and the Abu Sayyaf.

“This allegation is a justification for the attack on our communities,” he said. “We have no links with the Abu Sayyaf and other terror groups.”

MILF spokesman Kabalu yesterday said at least 17 soldiers were killed and six others were injured in the clash.

“On the 17 fatalities, one of them was identified as Totong Lukman, an MNLF integree who held a rank of 1st lieutenant in the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he quoted sources as saying.

All of the casualties belong to the Philippine Army’s 26th Infantry Battalion, Kabalu said.

He said a Simba tank was reportedly damaged by MILF during the clash.

He confirmed that MILF positions in Lanao were shelled and bombarded for three straight days, forcing some evacuation by villagers.

Kabalu, noted, however that government ground troops have not tried to attack their jungle base.

“Right now the army’s positions has concentrated in three strategic locations, such as, in Maladeg, Sultan Gumander, where two battalions were deployed another 2 battalions in Nonongan, Lanao del Norte and a third group posted in Pualas, Lanao del Sur,” he said.

But Purificacion said yesterday the operations had started and would would continue until “the last of the terrorists is decimated..”

The Lanao fighting followed clashes in the island of Jolo, in which 11 Marines were killed and 26 others wounded when Abu Sayyaf extremists pinned them down in a set battle.