(AKI) - Sixteen rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are believed to have been killed or injured in an air strike by government troops in Mindanao in the southern Philippines on Monday, a military official said. Major Armand Rico of the military's Eastern Mindanao Command said the conflict occurred when militants opened fire at two SF-260 planes and two helicopters dispatched to provide air support to ground troops in the district of Maduinganao. "Such acts of aggression (by the rebels) prompted the pilots to return fire," Rico said, in a report by the news network, GMA. Rico said the soldiers in the aircraft used machine guns in retaliation.
The Philippine military on Monday also warned of possible terrorist attacks to be launched by rogue elements of the MILF who have splintered into smaller groups to avoid detection by government security forces.
The latest conflict in the south occurred as the Red Cross issued a funding appeal to help more than 500,000 people displaced by the Muslim separatist insurgency. The Red Cross said clashes between government troops and the MILF are the worst seen in five years.