Manila  - Two people were wounded in escalating clashes between Muslim rebels and government troops in the southern Philippines, a military official said Friday.

Colonel Marlou Salazar said the fighting erupted late Thursday when Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels attacked an army outpost in Guindulungan town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

"Our men there defended our position," he said. "The rebels withdrew but their blocking force along the national highway strafed a cargo truck loaded with fish, wounding two civilians."

Eid Kabalu, MILF civil military affairs chief, denied that their forces initiated the fighting, describing the incident as a "mis-encounter."

"Apparently there was mis-encounter," he said. "Our troops have just crossed the highway when they were fired upon."

Earlier in the week, two people were killed in clashes between government troops and MILF rebels as peace talks between the two sides remained stalled.

Kabalu warned that the continued delay in the peace negotiations have caused disillusionment among MILF commanders and have cast doubt on the government's sincerity to attain peace in the strife-torn Mindanao region, home to the country's Muslim minority.

Formal peace negotiations bogged down in December last year over disagreements on the scope of a proposed Muslim homeland in Mindanao.

(dpa)