MANILA - Fighting between police and Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines has left at least 43 people dead, a police report said on Monday.
Police were trying to arrest two suspected Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists in the town of Mamasapano in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, when the clash erupted on Sunday.
Six rebels and 37 police officers were killed in the shootout, a police report said.
The rebels belonged to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which signed a peace deal with the government in March, and to its breakaway faction the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which opposed the agreement.
The MILF said its members were dragged into the fighting when the police failed to coordinate the operation that allegedly targeted Zulkifli bin Hir and Basit Usman.
Authorities have offered a reward of 5 million dollars for the arrest of Malaysian Zulkifli, and 1 million dollars for the capture of Usman, a Filipino.