Soldiers accounted for 723 of the fatalities while the communist New People’s Army (NPA), who have been fighting for over three decades to set up a Maoist state, suffered 1,810 dead, the military said.

The Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group linked by intelligence services to the Al-Qaeda network, suffered 171 dead while the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) incurred 118 fatalities.

The Abu Sayyaf have engaged in bombings and mass kidnappings while the MILF forged a ceasefire three years ago to negotiate peace with the government. But clashes with MILF commanders still take place sporadically.

The remaining fatalities were among followers of Nur Misuari, a former Muslim leader who was made governor of a Muslim autonomous region as part of a peace deal.

However, Misuari lost his position and staged a brief rebellion in 2001 before being arrested and jailed.

The statistics did not say how many policemen or civilians had been slain in the same period, or give comparative figures for previous years.

The military captured 575 assorted firearms in the clashes but lost 168 in the process, according to the statistics.

The 8,000-strong NPA accounted for the most clashes with government forces with 1,255 incidents last year, followed by the Abu Sayyaf at 123.