MANILA, Philippines ? Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines battled with a breakaway faction in fierce clashes that killed four combatants and renewed concerns over the infighting's effect on already-shaky peace talks, officials said Thursday.
Guerrillas from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country's biggest Muslim rebel group, were passing through a village near Datu Piang township in southern Maguindanao province when they were ambushed Wednesday by followers of radical breakaway commander Ameril Umbra Kato, rebel spokesman Von Al Haq said.
Regional military spokesman Col. Manuel Luis Ochotorena said two combatants from each side were killed and five others wounded in the gunbattle. A woman hiding in her home was wounded in the crossfire.
The gunbattle raged in a coconut grove bordering Datu Piang, and the fighting forced hundreds of residents of two farming villages to flee, said Brig. Gen. Ariel Bernardo, the government representative in a joint cease-fire committee with the rebels.
Government troops did not intervene in the fighting, he said.
Philippine officials said the infighting called into question the main guerrilla group's ability to reign in their fighters to follow any accord that could be struck in the yearslong peace talks being brokered by Malaysia.
A Malaysia-led international team safeguarding a cease-fire between government troops and the rebels has begun looking into the cause of the fighting to prevent more violence, Bernardo said.
"This contributes to the deterioration of the peace and order on the ground, which is not conducive for the talks," Bernardo said, calling on the main rebel group to discipline its fighters.
Kato broke away this year and organized a new rebel group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement, with more than 200 armed fighters. Kato said the peace talks have gone nowhere and that his group would continue the battle for an independent homeland for minority Muslims in the south.
He has also accused his former comrades of involvement in kidnappings for ransom and drug trafficking.
The main Moro rebel group and Kato's followers clashed for the first time last month in a dispute over land in Datu Piang. The weeklong clashes killed at least 14 guerrillas and displaced more than 3,000 villagers.
Kato built his base in the mountains near Datu Piang, about 560 miles (900 kilometers) southeast of Manila. He said he would not create trouble but would fight back if government troops or his former comrades come close to his stronghold.
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