MANILA — Philippine troops were pursuing Muslim rebels Tuesday after their attacks on multiple army outposts in the south left seven people dead and paralyzed a major highway that was in the path of rebel sniper fire. More than 200 fighters from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement launched simultaneous attacks on army camps and detachments in four towns in Maguindanao province and two outposts in North Cotabato province late Sunday. The fighting continued Monday and into Tuesday as troops tried to track down the gunmen. The pursuit was complicated by rebel snipers taking aim at soldiers. MG-520 helicopters fired rockets toward the retreating rebels and killed an unspecified number of gunmen, the army said. Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu, citing military reports, said two attackers were killed during the initial clashes. Eight people, including five soldiers and militiamen, were wounded. Army Col. Mayoraldo dela Cruz said one of his soldiers was killed and two others were wounded when the gunmen fired grenades on his brigade headquarters in Maguindanao late Monday. Two off-duty and unarmed soldiers were stopped and killed by rebels Monday on a highway near Maguindanao's Datu Unsay town and a third soldier was abducted, said army spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc. Two villagers were found dead on the same highway. “One of the soldiers was repeatedly struck on the face with rifle butts before being shot in the head, while the other had many hack wounds," Cabunoc said. The rebel group, led by commander Ameril Umbra Kato, broke off last year from the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is involved in peace talks with the government brokered by Malaysia. Kato's group has opposed the negotiations. Kato has vowed to continue fighting for an independent homeland for minority Muslims in the south of the predominantly Roman Catholic nation. He had a stroke in November, plunging his group into uncertainty. Abu Misri Mammah, a spokesman for the breakaway rebels, said they were avenging the death of a fellow militant who was killed when army troops advanced on the group's stronghold in Maguindanao last June. — AP
