COTABATO CITY, 3 May 2003 - The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) will send a mission to the Philippines to assess the progress of peace efforts with local Muslim separatists, President Gloria Arroyo said yesterday.

"Preparations are now ongoing for the visit of a team of officials and observers from the OIC sometime next month to strengthen avenues of cooperation," Arroyo said in a statement.

She said the group "continues to be the vanguard of the Islamic world's support for our efforts" to seal a peace accord with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest Muslim separatist group.

Arroyo added that "more and more commitments are pouring in for peace and development in the troubled southern Philippines, the latest being that of Bahrain." She did not elaborate.

In March, a panel of OIC envoys put off a visit to the southern Philippines due to an escalation of separatist attacks.

This week, at least 22 people, including three civilians, were killed and 19 others injured in clashes between government troops and MILF fighters, military reports said yesterday.

Military helicopters yesterday bombed MILF mountain lairs in the hinterlands of Tubod, Lanao del Norte where the Palarong Pambansa (national games) is to begin on May 18. Maj. Gen. Cristituto Balaoing, chief of the army 4th Infantry Division, said they have met stiff resistance from MILF snipers along two creeks near the town of Munai, also in Lanao del Norte.

Fighting has been described as heavy with troops hunkering down in their foxholes to avoid heavy sniper fire from the nearby hills.

In the province of Davao Oriental in eastern Mindanao, nine people were killed and one seriously wounded in an MILF attak on a military outpost, the MILF said.

In a statement, the rebel group said its fighters hit the outpost in Limot village of Tarragona town before dawn yesterday, catching the soldiers and militiamen by surprise. Several hours after the attack, an army truck bringing reinforcements to the detachment overturned on a highway after the driver lost control of it. Two of its passengers, including an army captain and a sergeant, were reported killed and 16 others were injured.

In an encounter on Tuesday with 100 MILF guerrillas outside Munai town in Lanao del Norte, five soldiers were killed, 11 were injured and two remained missing, said General Balaoing.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the rebels did not intend to disrupt the games, which have been postponed. The guerrilla operations are part of its "active defense" following the capture of the rebel stronghold, he said.

Ritchel Umel, Lanao del Norte public information officer said local officials have been told by the Philippine Sports Commission that the Palaro will push through on May 18 if the military succeeds in pushing out the rebels.