Four dead as 23,000 flee fighting in Mindanao

ZAMBOANGA (AFP) - Three Muslim extremists and a soldier were killed Wednesday amid renewed fighting in the southern Philippines where more than 23,000 people have fled their homes, officials said.

Five soldiers were also wounded in the clash with Abu Sayyaf militants in Parang town on the southern island of Jolo, said local commander Major General Ruben Rafael.

A cache of bazooka shells and grenades was recovered after the fighting, Rafael said.

It was the second firefight in Jolo this week following a battle in Indanan town on Tuesday that left two Marines wounded and an undetermined number of Abu Sayyaf wounded or dead.

Meanwhile, on nearby Basilan island fighting broke out between Marine forces and another Muslim group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Monday despite a ceasefire.

Von Al Haq, the MILF representative on the ceasefire board, said the Marines spotted unidentified armed men and began shelling them but the shells landed on an MILF camp, resulting in a brief gunfight between the soldiers and the separatists.

No one was hurt in the clash, Von Al Haq said.

Tensions have been high on Basilan since MILF forces, believed backed by Abu Sayyaf men, ambushed a Marine convoy on July 10, killing 14 Marines.

Ten of the Marines were beheaded but the MILF has denied any involvement.

After initially blaming the MILF, the government has since said witnesses identified four Abu Sayyaf members as involved in decapitating at least four of the Marines.

The Abu Sayyaf group, which the US and Philippine governments have linked to the Al-Qaeda terror network, has been responsible for numerous attacks on Christians and foreigners throughout the Philippines in recent years.

Since the July 10 ambush, the government has been building up its forces on Basilan in preparation for a retaliatory attack on the MILF.

The civil defence office said 23,873 villagers have fled their homes to avoid getting caught up in the fighting when it starts.

More than 15,000 have evacuated in the central part of the main southern island of Mindanao where the bulk of the MILF's forces are located while more than 6,600 have evacuated in Basilan.

The government, with the support of the Red Cross and the World Food Programme, is stockpiling rice, tents, clothing and medicines for use of the evacuated villagers.