More than 1,000 Muslim separatists have been killed in fighting in the southern Philippines over the past year, the military said Saturday, but a rebel leader denied the claim. The government itself lost «more or less 30» soldiers in clashes since peace talks collapsed in August, said Col. Jonathan Ponce, spokesman for the military's 6th Infantry Division, which is involved in the operation against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He disputed a report by the rebels earlier this week that more than 500 soldiers have been killed during that period. The rebels also said 20 guerrillas, 20 pro-government militiamen and 20 civilians have been killed. «We would not have released (the rebel casualty figures) if they had not claimed that more than 500 of our soldiers have been killed,» Ponce told the AP. There are no reliable independent casualty counts, but estimates of deaths in fighting since the rebellion began in the early 1970s range as high as 120,000.
