File photo shows armed government militia and policemen in Jolo island in the southern Philippines.

Twenty Muslim separatists and seven soldiers have been killed in fighting in the southern Philippines as the rebels Saturday accused the army of undermining the prospect of a return to peace talks.

About 60 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels attacked a security patrol Thursday near the town of Mamasapano on the island of Mindanao, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the provincial capital where President Gloria Arroyo was scheduled to visit, said Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Ponce.

Arroyo went ahead with her visit on Friday, as clashes escalated and 20 MILF fighters were killed, the military spokesman added. Seven soldiers were also killed the same day.

“Clearing operations are still ongoing,” Ponce said, adding that five soldiers had been wounded and taken to a military hospital near here.

Arroyo was aware of the ongoing fighting nearby during her visit to Maguindanao province, said a provincial official who was part of the welcoming party.

“The president appeared unmindful of her security, anyway the fighting was far away,” the official added.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu confirmed the clashes but alleged the military started it when they attacked a community where some of the rebels’ families lived. He said only two MILF fighters were killed, and claimed the military suffered more casualties than it reported.

“The bodies of some dead soldiers were only retrieved hours later,” Kabalu told AFP. “The military triggered the fighting when they entered the area.”

He accused the military brass of “playing games” and undermining any prospect of returning to peace negotiations with the government.

“This attack only proves they want to create confusion on the ground at a time when government is trying to re-start the talks,” Kabalu said.

“But we cannot negotiate under such an atmosphere,” he said.

The military said the attacks were led by Ameril Umbrakato, a hardline MILF leader who is one of the country’s most wanted men following a series of deadly attacks on Christian communities in the Mindanao region last year that claimed dozens of lives and displaced about 600,000 people.

Last year’s fighting was triggered by a Supreme Court ruling that outlawed a draft peace agreement being offered by Arroyo to end four decades of insurgency in the homeland of the mainly Roman Catholic nation’s large Muslim minority.

The accord would have granted the Muslims control over large areas of the south, a region where the Muslims are now outnumbered by Christian settlers.

President Arroyo subsequently suspended peace talks and ordered the massive military operation. She has however since announced that government was prepared to resume talks with the rebels, and appointed a new set of negotiators.

Colonel Marlou Salazar, commander of an army brigade involved in the fighting, told reporters the rebels continued lobbing mortar shells onto army positions on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Meanwhile the army pursued the rebels who split into smaller groups and fled towards a marshy area, Ponce said.

Source: AFP