Philippine Troops Kill 10 Muslim Rebels

Army troops captured a Muslim rebel camp in a southern province Thursday, killing at least 10 guerrillas during a clash, a military official said.

The military started the air and ground assault on the camp of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, in Butig town in Lanao del Sur on Monday, officials said.

Army Col. Santiago Prejedo said a group of guerrillas who abandoned the mountain camp encountered army troops near the camp Thursday, setting off a battle that killed at least 10 of the rebels.

Lanao del Sur lies about 520 miles south of Manila, the capital.

Several other MILF camps, including the rebels’ sprawling headquarters in Maguindanao province, have been captured by government troops in a massive offensive that started early this year. The military offensive prompted the rebels to call off peace talks with the government.

After most MILF camps fell, the government began wooing the guerrillas to resume the peace negotiations.

The MILF is the largest group fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines. A smaller but more extreme group, the Abu Sayyaf, seized scores of foreign and local hostages early this year but freed most of them after payment of a huge ransom, officials said.

The military is continuing an assault that began in September against the Abu Sayyaf rebels in the southern island of Jolo to rescue an American and a Filipino still in rebel hands.

Meanwhile, President Joseph Estrada, facing an impeachment trial, left Thursday to attend a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Singapore, calling his trip proof of “business as usual” in the Philippines.

Key aides on a caretaker committee to oversee government functions while Estrada is away met at the Manila airport to discuss security and other concerns.