2 Dead, 270 families flee Philippine clash

Fighting between rival armed insurgent groups left two people dead and sent around 270 families fleeing their homes in the strife-torn southern Philippines, a military spokesman said Sunday. Eight houses were also burned as members of the main  rebel group, the Moro Liberation Front (MILF) battled fighters from the older Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), said Colonel Prudencio Asto. After a week of sporadic gunshots, MILF fighters attacked members of the MNLF in the agricultural town of Carmen in the southern island of Mindanao on Saturday, leaving one dead on each side, he added. MILF spokesman Von al-Haq said the fight was sparked by a personal feud between an MILF leader called Commander Karim and an MNLF leader called Commander Teo and that it was not a wider war between the two groups. "They (the fighters) are alleging that Commander Teo is the mastermind of the killing of the wife of Commander Karim about three weeks ago," he told AFP. He did not know why the woman was killed. The MILF, which is engaged in a ceasefire and peace talks with the government, has dispatched officers to the area to stop the hostilities while the military said it is sending troops to separate the two sides. There were about 400 MILF fighters and 300 MNLF members known to be operating in the farming village where the fighting broke out, the military added. The MNLF was the original rebel group fighting for an independent state in the southern third in Philippines in the early-1970s. However, when the MNLF signed an agreement with the government to seek some autonomy instead, the MILF split to wage their own war starting in 1978. In 2003, a truce was signed with the MILF to pave the way for peace talks with the government. Despite the peace process, MILF and MNLF fighters have been allowed to retain their weapons and individual commanders from both groups occasionally clash in the south over land and political influence.