RP mayhem claims another 13 lives

RP mayhem claims another 13 lives

Agencies, Cotabato, Philippines

Suspected Moro separatists attacked a truckload of soldiers on
route to get food and gasoline on Tuesday, setting off a clash
that killed 13 people, including civilians, a military official
said.

The fighting in Matanog town, in southern Maguindanao
province, followed a weeklong military offensive that led to the
capture last week of a sprawling Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) stronghold 70 kilometers away, the officials said.

The truck, carrying an undetermined number of soldiers and
civilians, was negotiating a sharp curve on a hill when about 50
MILF guerrillas opened fire from both sides of the road with
rocket-propelled grenades and M-16 rifles, army Maj. Julieto Ando
said.

The soldiers managed to return fire in a clash that killed
eight soldiers and five guerrillas. The fighting wounded 10
soldiers and seven civilians. Some were on the truck, while
others were aboard a nearby passenger jeep, Ando said.

Police from a nearby camp rushed to the scene, prompting the
attackers to withdraw. Army reinforcements, backed by helicopter
gunships, pursued the guerrillas in Matanog, prompting thousands
of villagers to flee their homes, Ando said.

Last week's military offensive killed 157 rebels, five
soldiers and one government militiaman, according to the
military. The MILF acknowledged 40 rebels dead and claimed to
have killed more than 100 soldiers. Neither count could be
independently confirmed.

The fighting forced about 60,000 villagers from their homes
and endangered the prospects for resumption of peace talks
between the rebels and the government scheduled for this month in
Malaysia.

The Moro rebels have been waging a separatist war in the
south, home of the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines'
Muslim minority, since the 1970s.

Meanwhile, U.S. troops are to join Filipino soldiers on Jolo
island this year to observe the hunt for a Muslim group linked to
the al-Qaeda terror network, Philippines officials said on
Tuesday.

Philippine and U.S. marines held a wargame in Ternate beach in
Cavite province, south of Manila on Tuesday. Backed by mortar
fire, more troops drop by rope from a hovering helicopter.