KIDAPAWAN -- Four people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed in a roadside bombing in Maguindanao province perpetrated by suspected Moro rebels who wanted to attack military reinforcements, police said Wednesday.

The victims were in a van in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao Tuesday night when the improvised bomb went off.

Norodin Macabangen, a municipal treasurer of a nearby town, died in hospital. His six-year-old daughter, a brother and another man died instantly while his wife and nine-year-old son were injured.

A police report said there had been a firefight between soldiers and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in the area, and that the explosives were believed intended for reinforcement troops.

The hard-line rebels broke off several years ago from the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front when the latter pursued peace talks with the government, opting to continue to fight for a separate homeland in the south for minority Muslims in the predominantly Catholic Philippines. (AP)