Cotabato City, Philippines - One Muslim rebel was killed and three government soldiers were wounded in clashes in the southern Philippines during a military offensive against guerrillas who launched deadly attacks last month, officials said Saturday. Fighting erupted between troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels near a mosque in Maasim town in Sarangani province, 1,125 kilometres south of Manila, on Friday, said police Senior Superintendent Danilo Peralta.
Peralta said sporadic firefights were still ongoing on Saturday.
He said one MILF rebel was killed in the clash, while three government soldiers were wounded.
On Saturday, fighting broke out between troops and MILF rebels near the Dapiyawan Elementary School in Datu Piang town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, causing panic among thousands of evacuees in the compound.
No casualties were reported in the clash when military and local health workers were conducting a medical mission in school, said Major Peter Edwin Navarro, spokesman for the army's 601st brigade.
Navarro said troops clashed with a group of rebels believed to be lead by MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato, who is wanted for leading a series of attacks in nearby North Cotabato in August.
The rebels seized several villages in North Cotabato, burned and raided homes following a major setback in peace talks between the MILF and the Philippine government, killing dozens and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.
"While we were having our medical mission in the school, the evacuees panicked because of the gunfire," Navarro said. "We told them to calm down because we have troops in the area."
MILF rebels also launched attacks in other provinces in August after the Supreme Court stopped the signing of a territorial agreement that would have expanded an existing Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao due to questions over its constitutionality.
More than 200 people, including nearly 70 civilians, were killed and more than 500,000 displaced in the rebel attacks and fighting in Mindanao.
The Philippine government eventually scrapped the controversial agreement on ancestral domain, which Christian politicians warned violated the constitution and could lead to the country's Balkanization.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has also dissolved the government's peace negotiating panel with the MILF and ruled out any immediate resumption in peace talks with the 12,000-strong rebel group amid the fighting in Mindanao.
