ZAMBOANGA CITY, 12 August 2006 — Two members of an elite police force trying to arrest an Indonesian terror suspect in the southern Philippines were killed in a clash with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters, a rebel spokesman said yesterday.

The fighting occurred before dawn Thursday when more than 30 members of the police’s Special Action Force raided an alleged hideout of the Jemaah Islamiyah in Balong village in North Cotabato’s town of Pikit.

Police said they were armed with a warrant of arrest for Indonesian national Adulhir bin Hir, also known as Marwan, who is also wanted in his country for terrorist attacks in the past years.

But the supposed hideout turned out to be the house of MILF fighters, who put up a fight, leading to a 30-minute gunbattle that led to the deaths of two police officers. Two more cops were reported injured.

“There are no terrorists hiding in the village. The village is a known MILF community. Our fighters only acted in self-defense, thinking that they were being assaulted by lawless elements,” said MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu. He said it was also impossible for the MILF fighters to recognize the police officers since it was dark.

Army officials in the area also said the police did not coordinate with them or the ad hoc joint action group of the military and the MILF. “All we know was the police were trying to serve a warrant of arrest for two men identified only as Marwan and Omar. We don’t know their backgrounds and it was a police operation,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the 6th Infantry Division, said in a separate interview.

Radio reports said the police lost two M16 automatic rifles and night vision goggles in the clash. The MILF and the government signed a cease-fire agreement in 2001, which stipulated that the military and the police cannot conduct operations in rebel territories without coordination.

The cease-fire agreement was aimed at boosting peace negotiations between the MILF and the government.

which are being brokered by Malaysia.

Soldiers and policemen tightened security in North Cotabato after two bomb attacks on Thursday afternoon wounded one person in Kidapawan City. Four others were also wounded in a grenade attack in nearby Cotabato City, which was blamed by the police on terrorists.

Aside from the Jemaah Islamiyah, the Abu Sayyaf and the communist New People’s Army are actively operating in the restive southern Philippine region.