Manila  - Nine people, most of them children, were injured in a mortar explosion during a clash between Muslim separatist rebels and government militiamen in the southern Philippines, a parish priest said Friday.

The encounter was the first between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and state security forces since the government announced a suspension of military offensives against the guerrilla group in late July as part of preparations to resume stalled peace talks.

The clash erupted Thursday between MILF rebels and a group of government militiamen near an evacuation centre in Pikit town in North Cotabato province, 930 kilometres south of Manila.

Father Eduardo Vasquez, parish priest of Datu Piang town in nearby Maguindanao province, said eight of the victims were children playing outside the evacuation centre when an 81-millimetre mortar shell exploded.

Vasquez said most of the victims were brought to a hospital in Datu Piang for treatment.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the clash was prompted by a long-standing grudge between an MILF commander and the militiamen. He said the confrontation worsened when soldiers joined the fighting and started shelling MILF rebel positions.

Peace negotiations between the MILF and the government were suspended last year after deadly attacks by the guerrillas to protest the scrapping of a territorial deal that would have expanded a Muslim autonomous region in the southern Philippines.

More than 300 people were killed in the rebel attacks and subsequent fighting between the MILF and the military, which also forced more than 500,000 residents to flee their homes. Tens of thousands of people are still displaced by continuing hostilities. (dpa)