ZAMBOANGA CITY, 1 December 2007 — Government forces clashed yesterday with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) fighters in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, leaving at least 11 people dead, military officials said.

Col. Cesario Atienza, a Marine brigade commander, said five soldiers were killed and troops have recovered the bodies of six rebels after the fighting in Kalingalan Kaluang town on Jolo Island.

“We lost five men and 12 others were wounded,” Atienza told reporters by phone, adding that his troops capture a cache of weapons and munitions.

Another officer, Lt. Col. Jonas Lumawag, said there were intelligence reports indicating that 15 rebels were killed and 20 wounded, including MNLF leader Habier Malik.

“Based on signal intercepts, three other sub-leaders were wounded in the fighting,” Lumawag said.

Brig. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the army’s Special Forces in Sulu, said rangers were sent to reinforce the Marines.

Pabustan said the soldiers were searching Malik in the village of Kambing rebels attacked them, sparking a fierce firefight.

Malik has been the subject of a manhunt by government forces trying to enforce an arrest order for taking hostage a military peace mission in February. Fierce fighting between troops and Malik’s group in April also left at least 21 soldiers and rebels dead and more than 100 wounded.

Malik, who has declared a holy war against the military, previously warned of more attacks after accusing the government of violating the peace agreement, saying, troops, pursuing Abu Sayyaf militants, had killed MNLF members and innocent civilians in several armed encounters in the province.

Malik is demanding the release jailed MNLF founder and chairman Nur Misuari, who is under house arrest in Manila while under on trial for a rebellion he allegedly committed in 2001.

Misuari signed a peace deal with Manila in September 1996 ending decades of bloody war. He became governor of the Muslim autonomous region, but resumed his rebellion when the government refused to support his bid to extend his term as governor, among other demands.

Misuari also complained that the autonomy being offered under the autonomous government was inadequate.

Under the peace agreement, Manila would provide a mini-Marshal Plan to spur economic development in Muslim areas in the south and livelihood and housing assistance to tens of thousands of former rebels to uplift their poor living standards. (With a Reuters report)