Fighting leaves more than 50 people dead in southern Philippines

Aug 10, 2007, 3:55 GMT

Zamboanga City, Philippines - Fighting between government troops and Islamic militants in the southern Philippines has left more than 50 people dead and forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes, officials said Friday.

Major Eugene Batara, a regional military spokesman, said 25 soldiers were killed Thursday in clashes with Abu Sayyaf rebels in Indanan and Maimbung towns on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.

A civilian boy and 27 guerrillas were also killed in the fighting, he added.

The fighting erupted when Abu Sayyaf rebels ambushed a group of soldiers on their way to the public market on the border of Indanan and Maimbung. Nine soldiers were killed on the spot while another died while being treated in hospital.

Later Thursday, another group of soldiers clashed with Abu Sayyaf rebels in Maimbung, resulting in the death of another 15 troops and the civilian, Batara said.

Officials with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which signed a peace agreement with the government in 1996, said some MNLF members were also engaged in the fighting.

Hatimil Hassan, an MNLF deputy chairman, said MNLF fighters joined the attack against the soldiers in retaliation for the killing of three comrades and a commander in a clash with troops Wednesday.

'It was in retaliation for the death of Commander Jilih and his followers,' he said. 'The military initiated the attacks.'

The hostilities have forced more than 4,300 people to flee their homes in the affected towns, said Bai Racma Imam, an official with the local social welfare department.

'We are afraid that the fighting will escalate in other towns,' she said. 'There is a possibility also that the current figures of displaced people will balloon due to the ongoing fighting.'

Imam appealed for blankets, food supplies and medicines for the displaced residents.

The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the Philippines. It is believed to be working with two top militants with the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah regional terrorist group who are hiding in the southern region of Mindanao.

The MNLF has expressed dissatisfaction over the government's failure to implement some key provisions of the 10-year-old peace accord, especially those aimed at developing Muslim areas in Mindanao.

A tripartite meeting among representatives of the Organization of Islamic Conference, which brokered the peace pact; the Philippine government; and the MNLF to assess the implementation of the agreement has been postponed several times.