Asia-Pacific News

Jul 2, 2009, 6:06 GMT

Two Muslim rebels killed in clash in southern Philippines

Cotabato City, Philippines - Two Muslim secessionist rebels were killed in a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said Thursday. Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said the fighting erupted Wednesday when Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas attacked an army encampment in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila. Ponce said the soldiers repulsed the guerrillas with mortar fire, killing two of them in the ensuing firefight. 'We suffered no casualties,' he said. 'The enemy withdrew after we fired mortars to drive them away.' Government troops have intensified offensives against MILF guerrillas in Maguindanao and nearby provinces since the start of June, resulting in more than 100 fatalities on both sides. The 12,000-strong MILF have been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippine since the late 1978. It entered into peace negotiations with the government in 1997. But peace talks between the two sides were stalled since August last year after MILF guerrillas attacked towns and seized villages in Mindanao to protest the non-signing of a key territorial agreement. More than 300 people were killed in the attacks and subsequent clashes and displaced more than 500,000 civilians at the height of the fighting.

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