Gunmen kill 2 soldiers, wound 12 others deployed to secure a UN project in the southern Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Gunmen killed two soldiers and wounded 12 others who were deployed to secure a U.N. livelihood project in the southern Philippines, military officials said Thursday.

The attack Wednesday in Sumisip town in Basilan province sparked a clash in which two gunmen were also killed, they said. The military said the attackers included members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, an armed Muslim group that signed a 2014 peace deal with the government.

An army truck carrying soldiers assigned to secure a U.N. Development Program project was fired on in an ambush by the attackers, the military said.

No UNDP personnel were traveling with the soldiers, who withdrew to avoid a larger conflict with the Muslim gunmen, who burned the army truck, the military said.

Philippine army chief Lt. Gen. Roy Galido said the army was working with provincial officials and law enforcers to ensure ''justice be served to our fallen heroes."

Brig. Gen. Alvin Luzon asked the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to take action against the fighters who participated in the attack. The military vowed to hunt down the attackers.

''Their participation undermines the principles of the peace agreement and threatens the progress made in normalization efforts,'' Luzon said in a statement. ''Accountability is critical to maintaining trust and ensuring the integrity of the peace process."

The Moro rebel front was the largest secessionist Muslim insurgent group in the southern Philippines, the homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation, until it signed a 2014 peace deal with the government that established a Muslim autonomous region called Bangsamoro i n the south.

The peace deal considerably eased clashes in the area. Former rebel leaders became administrators of the autonomous region, which includes Basilan province, under a transition period that was to wind down with elections of regional officials scheduled in May.

Many of the 40,000 Moro guerrillas have agreed to lay down their firearms and return to normal life in exchange for livelihood packages under the peace agreement. Thousands of other rebels, however, have held on to their weapons while waiting to be subjected to a yearslong ''decommissioning process,'' a term for surrendering their firearms.

The process has been delayed amid complaints that former rebels have failed to receive promised cash and other incentives from the government.