Rebel camp captured in Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines, June 6 (UPI) -- A ranking army officer in the Philippines said Saturday government troops have captured a Moro Islamic Liberation Front camp.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, civil-military operations chief of the army's 6th Infantry Division, told Inquirer Mindanao the troops captured the camp in the village of Datu Saudi Ampatuan while searching for rebel field commander Ameril Ombra Kato.

Ponce said the camp was captured following a battle that began Thursday and left nine government combatants and 30 suspected rebels dead.

The army officer said the fierce battle ended when surviving rebel forces fled the camp amid a barrage of artillery fire from the military.

Ponce told Inquirer Mindanao the capture of the rebel base would not stop the military from locating Kato, who is wanted for allegedly orchestrating a series of rebel attacks last August.

"We will not stop until we get Kato dead or alive," the civil-military official said.