(UPDATE) 3 Muslim rebels killed in clash in Maguindanao: military

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Three members of the breakaway Muslim group of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) were killed and three government troops were injured in a clash erupted when the group attacked a military installation in Maguindanao last night, military said today.

Colonel Dickson Hermoso, the spokesman for the Philippine Army' s 6th Infantry Division, said a group of BIFF men fired mortar rounds at the base of the Army's 2nd Mechanized Battalion in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town, Maguindanao Province, around 11:45 p.m. Friday.

Hermoso said the ensuing sporadic fighting lasted up to about 1 a.m. today when the undetermined number of attackers withdrew. Three BIFF members were killed in the clash, while three government troops got hurt, he said.

However, BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama claimed that the government soldiers sustained fatalities, and the rebel group suffered no casualties.

Mama also said the attack was only the beginning of their operations against Philippine government troops. "More attacks will come. The military would not know where or when we will attack," he said.

Last month, Philippine military launched law enforcement operations against the group in Maguindanao, leaving 52 BIFF men killed and several BIFF camps captured.

The BIFF is the armed wing of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) which broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2010 as a result of disagreements over the conduct of peace talks with the government.