Hundreds flee fighting in southern Philippines

MANILA, Aug 3: Hundreds of people have fled their villages on the remote southwestern Philippine island of Jolo as fighting escalated today between soldiers and Muslim rebels with ties to the regional network Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

Four rebels were caught trying to slip through a naval blockade, military commanders said as an offensive to flush out members of the Abu Sayyaf group in the mountains near Indanan town carried into a third day.

''Since Monday, nearly 300 families from two villages have fled their homes,'' said Mohammad Nur Askalani, a military spokesman.

''Some of them are staying with their relatives in urban centres, while a few are at temporary shelter areas.'' Philippine security forces, backed by U S intelligence, are trying to stop Abu Sayyaf and members of JI, al Qaeda's regional franchise, from using the country's southern islands as bases to train and plot bombings in Southeast Asia.

Abu Sayyaf, the smallest of four Muslim rebel groups in the mainly Roman Catholic nation with around 400 members, is blamed for kidnappings and bombings, including a blast aboard a ferry near Manila in February 2004 that killed more than 100 people.

About 500 soldiers and Marines are fighting around 200 militants led by Khaddafy Janjalani and Indonesians Umar Patek and Dulmatin, the principal suspects in October 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

The army said five soldiers were wounded and a civilian guide killed in the initial skirmishes, with an undetermined number of rebels killed in three days of ground and air assaults.

''We believe we have trapped the top-of-the-list terrorists in our country,'' said Brigadier-General Alexander Aleo, commander of military forces on Jolo. ''They're playing a cat-and-mouse game.

But when we catch up with them, they're fighting like hell.'' Despite numerous campaigns on Jolo, including an offensive by 5,000 troops in 2004, Abu Sayyaf leaders and their foreign colleagues have eluded capture.

This time, the military says it is confident of success because the militants no longer enjoy the support of local Muslim separatists.

The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is backing the current assault on the Abu Sayyaf after a truce with the military was agreed in May at a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which had brokered a peace deal in 1996.

Last year, MNLF forces loyal to their jailed leader Nur Misuari had fought alongside Abu Sayyaf.

Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines have been seeking greater independence since the 1960s in a conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and stunted development.

REUTERS