ZAMBOANGA CITY, 12 January 2005 — Guns fell silent yesterday in the southern Philippines after fierce gun battle that ended with government forces retaking an outpost earlier seized by separatist rebels, officials said.

At least eight soldiers and an undertermined number of rebels were killed in two days of fighting which erupted as rebel fighters on Sunday raided an army detachment in the village of Linantangan in Mamasapano town Maguindanao province.

Lt. Gen. Generoso Senga, the Philippine Army chief, claimed that as many as 50 fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were killed in the gun battle.

“The enemy casualties could be more. Rebels usually hide their casualties,” Senga said. “It was silent today and there were no reports of skirmishes.”

Helicopter gunships and artillery were used to drive off some of the 600 MILF attackers who overran most of the outpost.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu disputed the military reports and said only one MILF fighter was killed.

Kabalu said thousands of ethnic Muslims have fled their homes because of the fighting.

Both the military and separatist leaders agreed that the attack violated a three-year old cease-fire between the government and the MILF and Kabalu said the attack was not sanctioned by the MILF central command.

“We are investigating this matter and this attack is not sanctioned by the MILF leadership,” he said. “The attack was not authorized by our leadership, but we would like to listen to our field commanders about why such an incident took place.”

Kabalu added, however, that the attackers raided the post for the killing by the military of a local rebel commander.

Col. Jerry Jalandoni, a local army commander, named the leader of the MILF unit behind the attack as Abdul Rahman Binago.

Jalandoni also said it was in apparent retaliation for the military’s killing of Binago’s brother, a member of a bandit group called Abu Sofia, earlier this month.

Jalandoni charged that the attack proved that there was an alliance between the MILF and other Muslim armed groups like the Abu Sofia and the Abu Sayyaf, both known mainly for kidnapping-for-ransom incidents and other crimes in the southern Philippines.

He said the MILF had been providing sanctuary to Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, in violation of the cease-fire conditions.

Ghadzali Jaafar, political affairs chief of the MILF, denied accusations his group had links to Abu Sayyaf but remarked that the attack on Mamasapano “could be the work of a few disoriented MILF who have interests in Abu Sofia.”

In a statement on Monday, Jaafar said, “We regret to say that this bloodletting has been taking place even as the cease-fire is holding effectively in Mindanao and the MILF-GRP Peace Talks have resumed in Kuala Lumpur...”

At the same time, he protested the “blatant disregard of the terms of the cease-fire” by government troops in launching massive operations in Palimbang town of nearby Sultan Kudarat province a week ago.

The military claimed the operations were against the extremist Abu Sayyaf Group but the MILF said the government has not made the “slightest effort to inform the MILF” of the movement as provided for by the cease-fire agreement.

Top officials from both sides, nonetheless, said the new violence would not stop the peace process between the two sides.

President Gloria Arroyo’s spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that the attack was “an isolated case, the perpetrators are being pursued and law and order is being restored.”

Bunye said the government expected the MILF leadership to impose sanctions on the attackers, but added that “the skirmishes will not in any way, affect the ongoing peace negotiations.”

He said joint MILF-government cease-fire monitoring committees and an international cease-fire monitoring team, which includes members from Brunei, Malaysia and Libya, was “working closely with both sides on the ground.”

Jaafar said they would continue peace talks but that the MILF would await an investigation by the international monitoring team before deciding what action to take.

Government and rebel peace panels are to resume talks in Malaysia, he said.

Kabalu, the MILf spokesman, said the rebel group would cooperate with the government in the investigation.

“Our central committee has already ordered all MILF units to stand down and respect the cease-fire,” he told Reuters by phone. “We are doing our own investigation and discipline, if necessary, on erring field commanders.”

Security analysts say there are splits in the MILF over the peace process and that renegade elements might break away as the negotiations gather pace. MILF leaders say the ranks are solid. (Additional input from agencies)