Philippine military officials say more than 100 insurgents launched attacks against army troops, sparking clashes that killed at least five soldiers and seven insurgents in a volatile southern region. Regional army spokesman Capt. Anthony Bulao says the daylong clashes erupted on Saturday in the marshy hinterlands of Datu Piang town in Maguindanao province and in a nearby village in North Cotabato province. Army forces were firing artillery rounds against the rebels in Maguindanao on Sunday. Hundreds of villagers fled Datu Piang after the clashes broke out, according to a report of the Associated Press.
