Over a dozen MILF rebels slain in Maguindanao clashes--military

COTABATO CITY -- More than a dozen Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels were killed in encounters in two towns in Maguindanao, the military said Thursday.

Major Peter Edwin Navarro, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines 601st Brigade, said 19 Moro rebels were killed in Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Guindulungan towns.

Major Armand Rico, spokesman of the military's Eastern Mindanao Command, said nine rebels died in the seven-hour gunbattle with army troops on Tuesday in Datu Saudi Ampatuan and seven others in artillery strikes in nearby Datu Piang.

Two soldiers were wounded in the fighting, Rico said.

Government forces have been hunting three MILF commanders and hundreds of fighters allegedly behind deadly attacks on predominantly Christian communities last month in at least four southern provinces.

The rebel attacks were sparked by a deadlock in Malaysian-brokered peace talks.

Rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu denied the military reports, saying not a single rebel died and only one was wounded in Tuesday's clashes.

He claimed that 10 soldiers died in Tuesday fighting. A separate rebel statement claimed 20 more troops died Wednesday in clashes in Maguindanao.

Rico accused the rebels of making up the death toll. "The armed forces will look for even a single missing soldier because he has to be accounted for the sake of his family," Rico said. "The rebels are now tampering with combat casualty numbers to boost the sagging morale of their men."

The government said Tuesday that it would ask the United Nations to blacklist 12 MILF rebels as terrorists for their role in last month's attacks on Christian areas.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the terror sanctions were not aimed at the entire rebel group, adding the government remains open to resuming stalled talks with the 11,000-strong guerrilla force once the clashes end.(By Jeoffrey Maitem; INQ.net)