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Muslim militants traded gunfire with Philippine troops yesterday and were using about 180 villagers as human shields, officials said, in a stand-off after a deadly attack on a southern city.
Gunshots rang out on the coastal outskirts of Zamboanga on the second day of a confrontation between the government and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) fighters intent on derailing peace talks.

"The security forces ... have stabilised the situation. It has been contained and isolated and won't spread to other areas," Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas said, adding that authorities were trying to negotiate with the gunmen.
About 180 residents were being used as "human shields" in six villages where the rebels were holed up and surrounded by security forces, Roxas said.
The government had described the villagers as "hostages" but Roxas said that it appeared they were free to leave.
"It appears that what happened is not hostage-taking but more of them being turned into human shields by the MNLF forces who entered their communities. People are free to get in and out of there, they are not bound, they are not detained," he said. "Whether they are hostages or not is still being validated."
The gunmen, followers of MNLF founder Nur Misuari, landed by boat and poured into the fishing villages on Monday before mounting an assault on Zamboanga, causing panic in the city of nearly one million people. The initial attack killed four people and left 14 injured, Roxas said.
Misuari had earlier declared "independence" for the Muslim southern regions of the mainly Catholic Philippines and called on his followers to besiege government installations.
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala estimated they were 180 MNLF gunmen hiding out in the communities. About 1,500 elite troops backed by a smaller number of police had surrounded the area, he said.
MNLF spokesman Emmanuel Fontanilla told DZMM radio that the rebels were prepared to dig in. "Our forces will stay where they are," he said.
The fighting has displaced about 1,500 residents of the mainly Muslim villages.


Militants use villagers as human shields in Philippines stand-off

Government forces advance in Zamboanga. Photo: Reuters

Filipino rebels seize hostages and clash with troops in Mindanao

Soldiers in action during ongoing clashes with rebels in Rio Hondo, Zamboanga city in the southern Philippines. Photo: EPA

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Muslim militants traded gunfire with Philippine troops yesterday and were using about 180 villagers as human shields, officials said, in a stand-off after a deadly attack on a southern city.
