Cotabato City, Philippines - Ten Muslim rebels were killed in separate clashes with government troops in the southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said Saturday.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said at least 20 other Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels were wounded Friday in separate gunbattles in Talayan and Guindulungan towns in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Ponce said there were no casualties on the government side in both clashes.

At least 41 MILF rebels have been killed in Talayan and Guindulugan towns since early June when government troops started offensives to flush out the guerrillas in the area.

The soldiers also seized three MILF camps since the military operations started on June. 4

The MILF has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the southern region of Mindanao since 1978.

The 12,000-strong rebel group entered into peace talks with the Philippine government in 1997, but the negotiations have been suspended since August 2008 after rebels launched series of deadly attacks in Mindanao.

Nearly 300 people have been killed and more than 500,000 were displaced due to the rebel attacks and subsequent fighting with the military. (dpa)