Manila, May 8 (TIWN) Islamist militants on Saturday occupied a part of a public market in a southern Philippine town as they fled an offensive by government troops, the military said.

The militants, numbering around 80 men, fired their guns in the air as they swooped down on the market in Datu Paglas town in Maguindanao province, 960 km south of Manila, dpa news agency quoted Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Baldomar, an army spokesman, as saying.

"They took food and threatened the civilians," Baldovar said.

"They were cornered when our forces were deployed in different areas and occupied (part of the market) because of the presence of our soldiers and policemen."