ZAMBOANGA CITY, 5 July 2006 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday urged Manila to rein in government troops and militias allied to local politicians in the southern Philippines, warning that their alleged offensive against rebel positions is threatening the peace process.

Leaders of the separatist group said yesterday that two MILF guerrillas were slain yesterday while defending a village from attacking paramilitary forces in Maguindanao province, about 900 kilometers south of Manila. “Two of our fighters were killed in the military attack near the MILF’s Camp Omar. We have a total of four soldiers martyred now,” MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told Arab News.

Sporadic fighting were reported in Shariff Aguak town and three other nearby towns, where MILF fighters are actively operating.

The situation right now is very volatile and tense and the continued attacks on MILF areas would harm the peace process and we are holding our line and rebel forces are fighting back only in self-defense,” Kabalu said.

In a separate interview with The Associated Press, Mohagher Iqbal, the chief rebel negotiator, accused the militiamen of torching several houses on Monday and warned that “the level of trust and confidence among peace negotiators was being eroded.”

Iqbal, who has been engaged in Malaysian-brokered peace talks with the Philippine government, accused the military of backing the civilian militiamen with howitzers and mortars. Government forces and the rebels signed a cease-fire three years ago.

“It is clear they are not respecting the cease-fire and the peace process,” Iqbal said.

Military spokesman Col. Tristan Kison had said on Monday that reinforced paramilitary forces seized the farming village of Lapok in Mamapasano town, an MILF stronghold.

Col. Felipe Tabas Jr., the regional military commander, also said the two sides traded mortar fire. He denied the military and police were directly involved in the fighting, adding that army troops were mostly deployed along a highway to secure civilians.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo instructed the military to coordinate with the cease-fire committee and the international monitoring team to maintain peace and order, her spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

“The latest incident of conflict is an isolated case that has not dented the overall spirit of the peace process,” Bunye said.

The violence in Maguindanao has prompted thousands of villagers to flee their homes, officials said. The clashes followed a June 23 bomb attack on a convoy carrying Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan, killing six people but leaving the governor unhurt. Police blamed two MILF commanders.

The rebel group denied it was behind the bombing and claimed militias simultaneously attacked MILF strongholds with mortars in retaliation to the killing of Ampatuan’s relative.

There were conflicting casualty reports. Tabas said the military was verifying that three militiamen had been killed and six wounded since June 28. On the rebel side, he said there were unconfirmed reports of 15 dead and 20 wounded.

MILF’s Kabalu claimed up to 40 militiamen have been killed and 30 wounded, while his group lost four men and 10 were wounded.

The military earlier demanded the MILF to pull out its fighters in Shariff Aguak town, but Kabalu said authorities should first disarm the militias and seize their weapons because many of them were acting as private armies of politicians.

Murad Ebharim, the chieftain of the MILF, on Monday ordered rebel forces in Maguindanao to remain inside their camps and defend only themselves from attacks.

Kabalu said the MILF’s Camp Omar is home to tens of thousands of rebels and their supporters and straddles the towns of Shariff Aguak, Datu Piang, Kabuntalan and Datu Saudi Ampatuan, all in Maguindanao and the towns of Midsayap and Aleosan in North Cotabato province.

But the military said the MILF controls no area.

“There are no so-called MILF territories or camps. There is only one democratic government,” said an army commander involved in the operation against the MILF in Maguindanao. (With a report from AP)