2 Die as Rebels, Troops Clash in Philippines

About 100 Muslim rebels occupied a southern village and blocked a major road Sunday but later withdrew after a firefight with government troops that killed at least two people, officials said.

Military and local officials said the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels held about 80 villagers hostage in a church but freed them unharmed before withdrawing from Tibao in M’lang town in North Cotabato province.

The rebels denied holding the villagers hostage, saying they fled to the church to avoid getting caught in the cross-fire.

An army spokesman, Capt. Onting Alon, said the rebels occupied Tibao and barricaded a road linking North Cotabato to the province of Sultan Kudarat before dawn Sunday.

The rebels herded about 80 villagers, including women and children, into a Catholic church and asked male residents to dig foxholes along the barricaded road, Alon said.

A firefight ensued when government troops arrived, leaving a rebel and a militiaman dead and three people wounded, including a policeman, officials said.

Al Haj Murad, vice chairman of the MILF, said they occupied Tibao and barricaded the main road to prevent military reinforcements from being deployed to their camp in Sultan Kudarat’s Isulan town, which was attacked by army soldiers early Sunday.

Murad said they withdrew from Tibao after the military offensive in their Isulan camp eased. Tibao is about 580 miles south of Manila.

The fighting Sunday is the latest in recent sporadic clashes between the rebels and government soldiers.

Murad said the military has been sporadically attacking two of their camps in North Cotabato and another camp in Sultan Kudarat since early this month, adding they may be forced to suspend their peace talks with the government if the offensives continue.

As in Tibao, the rebels may be forced to bring the fighting to other areas in Mindanao to disperse the military’s strength, Murad said.

“When such an escalation happens, the peace talks would be threatened,” he said.

The government and the rebels held a ceremony marking the start of peace talks last month, but actual negotiations are expected to begin in December.

Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado has accused the rebels of stepping up attacks on government troops in Mindanao in an apparent attempt to expand their strongholds before peace negotiations get underway.

Among the issues expected to be taken up is progress on a rebel demand that the government recognize MILF camps and strongholds in Mindanao.