5 MNLF members and an elderly woman killed in Philippines clashes

The Philippine military spokesman said that six more people were killed in clashes on Saturday in the southern Philippines where government forces are fighting Muslim militants besieging a port city. Five members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) were killed in clashes with soldiers in Zamboanga City, 875 kilometres south of Manila, said Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala. "This brings to 102 the number of enemies killed," he said. "We will try to finish this siege at the soonest possible time," he added. An elderly woman was also killed when a mortar shell hit her house, said police Inspector Elmer Acuna, bringing to 12 the number of civilians killed since the standoff began on September 9. Ten soldiers and three police officers have also been killed in the violence, which has displaced more than 118,000 people. More than 10,000 houses were destroyed in fires blamed on MNLF fighters seeking to block the advance of government forces. The standoff began when hundreds of armed MNLF rebels sought to hold a protest march in the centre of the city to denounce what they saw as the government's failure to implement a 1996 peace agreement.