OTABATO, Philippines (AFP) - – Muslim separatist rebels clashed with government troops in the southern Philippines just before a "peace summit" to try to end bloodshed in the region, military officials said Monday.
Guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) attacked a military outpost in the southern island of Mindanao late Sunday, sparking an hour-long gunfight, said military spokesman Colonel Benjamin Hao.
"Our military detachment was harassed by lawless MILF groups. They could be out to spoil the peace talks," he told AFP.
However there were no reports of casualties on either side, the military said.
MILF spokesman Von Al Haq said the MILF commanders in the area had denied taking part in any attack. He also said the military might be seeking to undermine the peace efforts.
The attack came just a day before government and Muslim representatives are due to open a two-day conference in Mindanao intended to speed up the peace talks between Manila and the MILF.
President Benigno Aquino, who assumed office in June, has vowed to end the insurgency during his six-year term and his chief peace negotiator Teresita Deles is attending the meeting in the war-torn region.
The 12,000-strong MILF has been waging an insurgency for more than three decades to carve out a separate Muslim state in the mostly Catholic country's southern region of Mindanao.
The rebellion has killed more than 150,000 people and stunted economic growth in the mineral-rich but poverty-stricken area.
Peace talks have been stalled since two MILF commanders led large-scale attacks across Mindanao in 2008, killing hundreds and plunging the region into a humanitarian crisis.
The attacks were carried out in retaliation for a Supreme Court decision outlawing a deal offered by the government of then-president Gloria Arroyo giving the MILF control over large areas it claims as its "ancestral domain".
Nearly 400 people were killed in the clashes, while more than 750,000 were displaced at the height of the conflict.
Both sides agreed to a ceasefire in 2009, allowing most of the displaced to return home, but the MILF opted to wait for Arroyo to step down before agreeing to return to the peace negotiations
