A senior leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said fighting between rebel and military forces erupted yesterday in the jungles of southern Basilan island, where troops are pursuing Abu Sayyaf gunmen holding more than a dozen hostages, even as the military justified its position by saying anyone bearing arms was fair game.

The clash occurred despite an agreement signed by both sides in Libya last week to temporarily stop hostilities while peace negotiations are underway. Ustadz Shariff Julabbi, MILF vice-chairman for Western Mindanao, said government soldiers shelled a MILF stronghold near Tuburan town after soldiers assaulted the rebel's defence perimeter.

"The military assaulted our position. Soldiers shelled our area with 105mm howitzers," Julabbi stated. "Our forces retaliated with anti-tank rockets and anything we have in our arsenal to defend the MILF area."

He did not say if there were MILF casualties, but the clash occurred close to the Sampinit Complex in central Basilan, where the Abu Sayyaf are believed to be holding out together with their hostages – some of whom were taken on May 27 from a resort in western Palawan island while the rest were abducted in Basilan.

Julabbi said troops attacked the MILF encampment early yesterday morning. "What we know is that there has been an ongoing operation against the Abu Sayyaf, but the MILF is not the Abu Sayyaf," he said.

Armed Forces spokesman, Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan, has linked the MILF with the Abu Sayyaf, blamed by the government for the spate of kidnappings and bombings in southern Philippines. Brig. Gen. Adan reiterated that the MILF is aiding the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan and could have provided weapons to the rebel group to fight government forces, sent to rescue the hostages in the predominantly Muslim province.

He also warned earlier that a clash between government forces pursuing the Abu Sayyaf and the MILF could happen since the operations are being undertaken in areas controlled by the latter group. But Julabbi interpreted what was otherwise an operation against the Abu Sayyaf, as a direct attack on the MILF.

"Soldiers continue to harass the MILF forces, provoking us into engaging with them in armed confrontation, so they can justify an attack," he said. He observed that guerrillas and soldiers also clashed for two days late last month after military forces encroached into MILF territory in Tuburan town.

But an army spokesman, Col. Danilo Servando, said soldiers would no longer be selective in going after their targets in Basilan. He said any group bearing firearms would face the military's might. He added that MILF snipers had attacked soldiers pursuing the Abu Sayyaf in the province. It is not also known if the incident is connected to reports that two Filipino hostages, who were supposedly freed by Abu Sayyaf rebels, were reportedly seized by an MILF commander in Tuburan's jungle.