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New Fighting Erupts Between Troops, MILF in Southern Philippines
Heavy fighting erupted between government troops and Muslim rebels in two fronts in the southern Philippine province of Cotabato over the weekend, the military said Monday.
A military report quoted Roy Kyamko, commander of the army's 6th Infantry Division, as saying that the first incident occurred shortly before 2 p.m. last Friday when one militia platoon clashed with 50 rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Tulunan, Cotabato.
The beleaguered troops called for reinforcement, Kyamko said, adding that the reinforcement sent from the 56th Infantry Battalion clashed for 30 minutes with another 100 MILF rebels.
However, there were no reports of casualties on neither side.
Although the government and the MILF have agreed in March to hold talks, yet the clashes between the military and rebels have never come to an end.
The 13,000-member MILF has been fighting for more than two decades for an independent Islamic state in the southern island of Mindanao.
Peace talks between the government and the MILF collapsed last year when former President Joseph Estrada ordered an all-out war against the MILF after the latter failed to meet a deadline set by the government to sign a peace deal.
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