MANILA – At least 11 people were killed in southern Philippines during a fierce gun battle and knife fight that broke out between warring command units of an armed rebel group, authorities said yesterday.

The Philippines’ army and police reported 11 dead during the clash that broke out Wednesday afternoon in a remote village of Maguindanao del Sur province between members of Moro Islamic Liberation Front – the country’s largest rebel group.

But a local official put the death toll at 19, and said the armed fight was over “a longstanding land dispute in the area”.

“Actually, it was 18 (who died during the fight), and then one got hospitalised, but (they) died in the hospital,” provincial rescue officer Tim Ambolodto told AFP.

Ambolodto added that 2 000 residents living around the village were forced to seek shelter at an evacuation centre or with other relatives to avoid stray bullets during the gunfight.

For decades, Catholic-majority Philippines has been plagued by violent insurgencies, including a Muslim-led separatist uprising that has killed more than 100 000 people.

In 2014, Manila signed a peace pact with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which includes the decommissioning of guns and weapons of its members.

The military said yesterday in a statement that it had “crafted” a letter to the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities – an advisory body to the pact – to protest the peace process, violation committed during the deadly armed clash.

The Philippine Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion also held a dialogue yesterday with members of the MILF Ad Hoc Joint Action Group to discuss interventions to prevent retaliation between the warring groups in the area, the statement said. 

– Nampa/AFP