At least ten Filipino separatists were killed and twenty others were wounded in separate clashes in the restive southern Philippines on Friday, a military official said Saturday.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, a local military spokesman, told Xinhua by phone that troops hunting down a wanted field commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest rebel group, had a two-hour fire-fight with 100 armed rebels in the village of Kateman in Maguidnanao province on Friday morning while another clash erupted in the nearby village of Ahan.

Ponce said there was no casualties on the government side in the fresh clashes.

"We will continue our operation against them (the rebels) to prevent desperate actions and plans to attack civilians in the region," he added.

The fresh violence erupted as Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced Friday a back channeling talks is on between state and Muslim separatist rebel negotiators in a bid to resume their stalled talks and put off the violence in Mindanao that affected tens of thousands people.

Peace talks between the government and the 11,800-member MILF collapsed in August 2008 after the two sides failed to sign a territory agreement as scheduled, prompting some radical rebels to launch deadly attacks on Christian communities in the region.

Ameril Umbra Kato, whom the security troops are pursuing, was wanted by the government for leading the most deadly attack to civilians last August.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2009)