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7 killed, 11 injured in Philippine rebel ambush

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-17 16:02

MANILA -- Four soldiers and three militiamen were killed while 11 others were wounded after suspected members of Muslim rebels ambushed an army convoy Sunday morning in southern Philippines, local media reported.

The four-vehicle convoy was attack by around 100 armed men in a town of Lanao del Sur province. The convoy was on its way to deliver cash allowances to militiamen, local on-line news network INQUIRER.NET said.

"The attack sparked a two-hour firefight. Even after the arrival of the reinforcement troops the firefight was ongoing," local military official Hilario Atendido was quoted as saying.

Atendido could not ascertain the group affiliation of the attackers, but spokesmen for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Lieutenant Colonels Ernesto Torres Jr., said the attackers are members of the Moro Islam Liberation Front (MILF),

A spokesman for the rebels, Eid Kabalu, could not confirm or deny the involvement of the MILF in the incident, local media reports said.

The ambush came a week after military offensives flushed out an estimated 500 MILF rebels from 15 poor farming villages in North Cotabato province. The fighting left two soldiers and an estimated 31 MILF fighters killed.

The MILF has been waging a separatist rebellion since 1978 but it started to engage in the peace talks with the government since 2003. The Supreme Court two weeks ago aborted a deal between the government and the MILF that would have given the rebels control over vast areas of lands in the south.

Many fear that the higher court's decision would trigger a new ground of guerrilla attacks and result in heavy loss of human lives.