Three Muslim guerrillas were killed in the southern Philippines Tuesday in clashes between soldiers and a breakaway group opposed to talks aimed at ending a decades-long rebellion, the military said.
Rebels from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) fired on an oil tanker and planted two explosive devices on a highway, forcing the military to shut down the road, army spokesman Colonel Dickson Hermoso said.
Hermoso said a military unit sent to clear the road engaged about 30 BIFF rebels in a firefight at dawn, killing three of the gunmen.
"This is a desperate move by the BIFF to gain attention", Hermoso told reporters.
The attack on the fuel truck was the second deadly confrontation blamed by the military on the BIFF since July 7, when government negotiators struck a wealth-sharing agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The 12,000-strong MILF is the main Muslim rebel group in the south of the mainly Catholic Philippines that has been fighting since the 1970s for an independent or autonomous homeland.
Both sides said this month's deal brought them closer to signing a final pact to end the conflict, which has claimed about 150,000 lives.
The BIFF, led by a hardline guerrilla leader expelled from the MILF in 2011, is opposed to the peace talks.
Hermoso said the BIFF also attacked a rural village near the highway in Mindanao on Monday, killing a farmer.
About 100 residents of a nearby town fled to a neighboring village due to the fighting, an Agence France Presse photographer saw.
Tonda Mamaluga, a Muslim rickshaw driver and father of two children, said he and his neighbors had to leave the village when mortar shells began crashing on the neighborhood.
"It was still a bit dark when the firefight happened. My wife and I were only able to get the baby's clothes and some food," he told AFP.
"I hope the fighting stops so I can go back home for our other things."
He did not report any casualties among the civilians.
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