A commander of the Philippines' largest Muslim separatist group has been killed and many others wounded in a clash with government troops, the military said Sunday, reported (AFP)
Armed forces southern command chief, Lieutenant General Diomedio Villanueva, said fighting broke out when patrolling troops were attacked by members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in southern Maguindanao province on Saturday.
Troops were able to force the rebels to retreat, leaving behind their leader, identified as Commander Musa, Villanueva said.
Scores of other rebels, believed to have been wounded, were able to escape.
The MILF is the country's largest Muslim rebel force fighting for the establishment of an independent Islamic state in the main southern island of Mindanao.
Last week, at least 17 MILF guerrillas, eight soldiers and five government militiamen were killed after the rebels simultaneously attacked army detatchments in the nearby province of Lanao del Sur.
The rebels had earlier vowed to intensify attacks against government ahead of a fact-finding mission by the world Islamic body, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), to begin on Monday.
The mission was to review the implementation of a 1996 peace accord signed between Manila and the larger Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), from which the MILF split in 1978.
It would also check on the living conditions of the minority Muslims in the south, thousands of whom have been displaced in central Mindanao amid fierce clashes between government troops and the MILF – (AFP)
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