ZAMBOANGA CITY, 2 July 2006 — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) yesterday accused government troops of violating a three-year truce by shelling guerrilla positions in the southern island of Mindanao on Friday.

Tension remained high yesterday in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao province, scene of bloody fighting between MILF fighters and paramilitary forces, which sent more than a thousand villagers fleeing their homes.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said their fighters were bracing for new attacks by armed followers of Andal Ampatuan, a local warlord and governnor of Maguindanao.

“Tension is very high and MILF forces are bracing for possible attacks by militias working for Ampatuan,” he said.

The politician escaped a roadside bomb attack last week in Shariff Aguak, but five people, one of them his relative, was killed and 14 others injured in what authorities claimed was the handiwork of the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group which is currently negotiating peace with Manila.

The fighting has been raging for days, Kabalu said, adding, government soldiers have fired at least 20 rounds of howitzer canons near a major rebel base late Friday afternoon.

Kabalu said the MILF filed a protest with the joint cease-fire committees and that the Malaysian-led international truce observers were investigating the attack.

The military said the clashes began Wednesday when police tried to arrest two MILF commanders who were tagged as brains behind the bombing in Shariff Aguak. The military said rebels fired rockets on an army post, manned by soldiers and militias, in the village of Koloy, sparking a firefight that spread to four other villages.

Kabalu said dozens of militias were killed and wounded in the fighting since Wednesday and that one rebel was also slain and ten others injured. He said that rebels overran a military outpost used by militias to attack MILF forces in Shariff Aguak.

The military said only six militias were reported wounded.

Ramon Santos, a retired general who heads the government’s cease-fire panel, said it had started investigating the MILF complaints because there was an apparent lack of coordination between troops on the ground. “Some soldiers fired some shots, but we have to find out whether it was justified,” Santos told reporters/

Army officials said none of its soldiers was involved in the clashes. But the military moved reinforcements to army bases in the area, saying troops were sent to prevent fighting from spilling into other areas and threatening the truce.