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.