|
ILIGAN, PHILIPPINES - Muslim rebels attacked an army patrol in the restive southern Philippines, leaving seven soldiers and one militant dead, military officials said Wednesday.
Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ambushed an army patrol in Calanugas town on Wednesday, sparking a firefight in which seven soldiers and one MILF fighter were slain, a military report said.
A few hours later, MILF rebels attacked an army outpost in the same town, wounding five soldiers while suffering an undetermined number of casualties, said local commander, Colonel Rey Ardo.
In other fighting on Wednesday, MILF guerrillas ambushed troops escorting labourers to a road project, leaving two soldiers wounded, said local commander, Colonel Dickson Hermoso.
Two MILF commanders launched attacks on Christian communities last month after the Supreme Court suspended a draft agreement aimed at sealing a peace accord with the rebels.
About 100 people have died and another 500,000 people have been displaced in the fighting, which has reached its worst point in five years, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Despite the renewed clashes, the government says a 2003 ceasefire with the rebel leadership remains in effect and that only the forces of the two MILF commanders were being sought.
| 
