ZAMBOANGA CITY: Fierce fighting erupted yesterday between government troops and Muslim rebels in the restive region of the southern Philippines with both sides reporting as many as 14 people dead.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels said four army soldiers were killed in the fighting near Maguindanao, one of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.
Clashes also broke out in Sarangani province, southeast of Maguindanao, said Eid Kabalu, a rebel spokesman.
The Army’s 6th Infantry Division said 10 rebels were slain in the clashes.
“Four government soldiers are dead in Maguindanao fighting. We still have no reports of casualties in Sarangani clashes, but fighting is still raging in the area,” he told the Arab News.
Kabalu said government troops attacked MILF positions in Maguindanao and Sarangani provinces, sparking sporadic, but fierce clashes between military and rebel forces.
He accused the military of violating a fragile truce which could further put at risk peace negotiations between the MILF and Manila.
“The fighting could threaten the peace talks if hostilities escalate to other areas. Troops are attacking our positions without provocations,” Kabalu said.
Peace talks have been stalled since last year after government negotiators agreed, but later reneged on a deal that would give back Muslims their ancestral lands in the southern Philippines.
Manila opened up peace talks with the MILF in 2001 and signed a truce agreement with the country’s largest Muslim rebel group which has been fighting the past three decades for an Islamic state in Mindanao.
But despite the cease-fire accord, sporadic clashes between soldiers and rebels still continue in many places with both sides accusing each other of violating the truce.
