Five soldiers were killed and four others wounded in the latest military clashes with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) renegades and their Abu Sayyaf allies in Sulu. An armored personnel carrier was also damaged in the three-hour fighting in the outskirts of Parang town, said Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala, Sulu military commander. An undetermined number of rebels were also killed in the battle that broke out Thursday near Water Point Lanao Dakula complex, the rebel stronghold seized by troops last week, said Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual, Armed Forces spokesman.Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza, Armed Forces Southern Command chief, said troops have been conducting mop-up operations in Lanao Dakula since Tuesday. Meanwhile, police and military agents are investigating whether the arms seized Thursday on a passenger vessel from Manila had been intended for MNLF renegades fighting troops in Jolo. Security forces arrested a suspect who was supposed to pick up the contraband consisting of five M-16 rifles, spare parts and magazines. Police and troops are also tracking down the consignees, who were identified as Roberto and Rodolfo Macapili.
Earlier Thursday, five rebels were slain and five others captured in a clash in Patikul town. The military is pressing its campaign to hunt down the rebels who launched an uprising in Jolo on Feb. 7, attacking military outposts and sparking over a week of clashes that left about a hundred soldiers and rebels dead. The uprising was launched by Habier Malik and other suspected followers of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Nur Misuari, who is detained at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna on rebellion charges. The MNLF renegades are believed to be allied with the Abu Sayyaf, a kidnapping gang linked by the Philippine and US governments to the al-Qaeda terrorist network of Saudi Arabian dissident Osama bin Laden. President Arroyo has ruled out a ceasefire with MNLF renegades and ordered the military to hunt them down. The military previously said it captured the camps of the MNLF renegades and their Abu Sayyaf allies, but the guerrillas have scattered into small groups and are still resisting the military.