Fighting erupts in southern Philippines, two dead

MANILA, Sep 3 (Reuters) Two Muslim separatist rebels were killed and three were wounded in a clash with military reservists in the southern Philippines, an army commander said today.

Colonel Danilo Garcia said the clash with members of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) took place in a remote village yesterday afternoon on the island of Mindanao.

Government troops and the MILF, which wants a separate homeland for Muslims in the south of the largely Catholic country, are meant to be observing a truce while both sides try to hammer out a peace deal but there have been an increasing number of clashes in recent months.

MILF members are frustrated that talks have been stalled for nearly a year while soldiers are angered that Manila has refused to retaliate when MILF rebels attack their units.

''The rebels entered into the village without coordinating with us,'' Garcia told reporters. ''The rebels clearly violated the ceasefire agreement. We had filed a protest to the ceasefire committee.'' MILF spokesman, Eid Kabalu, said the rebels were ambushed while returning to their homes in the central Mindanao region.

''It's the militiamen (reservists) that violated the truce,'' Kabalu said. ''We don't need to coordinate with the army in the area because our members live there. It's not part of an unusual movement of forces.

The latest fighting came a week after the two sides had agreed to expand the role of Malaysian-led peace monitors, allowing them to supervise truces on the remote islands of Basilan, Jolo, Tawi-tawi and southern Palawan.

Talks to end the nearly 40 year conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people and displaced 2 million were expected to resume this month, just before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

REUTERS GL SSC1313