Philippines: the battle with rebels

Heavy fighting between &to= english.pravda.ru/hotspots/2002/03/06/26833.html ' target=_blank>Philippine troops and Muslim rebels has left at least 19 soldiers and guerrillas dead, breaking a 17-month truce just weeks before peace talks hosted by Malaysia were due to restart. Philippine and Malaysian officials said the battle on the southern island of Mindanao would not derail the talks aimed at ending a 35-year-old separatist rebellion that has killed at 120,000 people and hurt foreign investment and rural development. The military said it was using howitzers to shell rebel positions while helicopters fired rockets and machineguns to retake an army outpost that was overrun on Sunday night by some 200 &to= english.pravda.ru/hotspots/2001/11/24/21853.html ' target=_blank>Moro Islamic Liberation Front(MILF) guerrillas, reports Reuters. The army said its forces were attacked on Sunday by some 200 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters and that fighting was still going on. The MILF said its leaders did not sanction the clash and that Malaysian monitors were heading to the scene. The fighting is the worst since a truce came into effect 17 months ago. It comes before the two sides resume peace talks in Malaysia next month. But Philippine and Malaysian officials said the clash, involving an army detachment near the town of Mamasapano, was not likely to affect negotiations as it was an isolated event by a small group of breakaway rebels. The MILF is the largest &to= english.pravda.ru/hotspots/2001/08/15/12579.html ' target=_blank>Muslim rebel group in the Philippines, a mainly Roman Catholic country, tells BBC News.

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