Cotabato City, Philippines - Eight soldiers were wounded on Sunday in a clash with Muslim secessionist rebels in the southern Philipppines, a regional military spokesman said. Major Armand Rico said the victims were wounded in a landmine explosion set-off by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas who attacked an army outpost in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.
Rico said government troops were able to inflict casualties on the fleeing MILF rebels.
Fighting between government troops and MILF rebels have escalated since August after the Supreme Court stopped the signing of a territory deal that would have expanded the existing Muslim autonomous region in the strife-torn Mindanao island.
The MILF, which has been engaged in a peace negotiations with the government since 1997, expressed dismay over the non-signing of the agreement and expressed doubt on the seriousness of President Gloria Macapagal Aroyo to end the more than three decades of conflict in Mindanao.
