ZAMBOANGA CITY, 20 September 2007 – Ten people were killed in a firefight between two warring Muslim groups in the Philippines' main southern island of Mindanao, officials said.

Officials said supporters of the former governor of Maguindanao province, Norodin Matalam, and village chieftain Daitug Guima clashed at bridge in Kabacan town in North Cotabato province.

Among those killed were Guima and six of his followers, two bystanders and one from Matalam’s side. The former governor was also wounded in the fighting, said Col. Pedro Soria, commander of the Philippine Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade.

Other reports said Matalam’s wife was also wounded, but this could not be independently confirmed.

“Ten people are dead and police authorities are still investigating the fighting, but apparently the two sides were long political opponents. We appeal to followers of both sides to stay calm,” he told Arab News.

He said Matalam’s group was heading to a village in North Cotabato to visit his farm while Guima and his companions were on their way to a gathering when they caught each other at the bridge.

“The fighting broke out after supporters of the two warring groups suddenly fired at each other on top of the bridge in the village of Lumayong,” Soria said.

Matalam ran for mayor in Pagalungan town in elections this year, but lost to Uto Montowal. He contested his defeat.

He said elections in Pagalungan were marred with cheating and fraud and that one of those who exposed poll irregularities, Musa Dimasidsing, the Maguindanao Schools District chief, was shot dead inside an Islamic school.

Clan wars, known locally as “rido,” are common in communities in the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country, and analysts say they pose a threat to a fragile four-year truce between the government and Muslim separatists.

Studies funded by the Asia Foundation and the US Agency for International Development found there had been more than 1,200 clan feuds in the south since the 1930s, killing nearly 5,000 people and displacing tens of thousands. (With a report by AP)