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Manila: Civilian casualties are mounting in the southern Philippines, where fighting between the army and Islamist militants has killed at least 187 people in the past 10 days, the military and a human rights official said yesterday.
The military said about 60 civilians were killed in attacks by renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters on towns in the south and in mortar shelling. In addition, 110 rebels and 17 soldiers died, officers said.
Leila de Lima, head of the Commission on Human Rights, told reporters at least 20 civilians were killed in one town on Sunday as the military pursued guerrillas responsible for the attacks.
"About 20 civilians were killed three days ago due to heavy fighting in Piagapo town, but we can't tell whether these were results of direct attacks by the rebels or collateral damage by the bombing and shelling by military forces," she said.
De Lima said the number of civilians killed or injured in the army offensive could be much higher but it was difficult to get a precise number because most of the areas remained inaccessible due to the fighting.
It is the worst violence for years in the Mindanao region of the Christian-majority nation where the rebellion has prevented any significant development of some of the richest mineral and hyrdrocarbon resources in Southeast Asia.
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