(Adds bomb attacks wound four people)

MANILA, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Muslim separatists killed at least seven Philippine soldiers and wounded a dozen more in an ambush on Sunday on the troubled southern island of Mindanao, the military said.

The attack came four days after government troops halted a fierce offensive against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in another part of Mindanao and was the latest outbreak of violence since a territorial deal with the MILF was halted by the Supreme Court earlier this month.

Elsewhere on Mindanao, two crude bombs wounded four people, including a four-year-old boy, in separate lodging houses in Iligan city on Sunday.

"No one has claimed responsibility but there's strong suspicion that Muslim rebels might be behind the attack," said, Vicente Encabo, a police officer in Iligan.

In the MILF ambush in Lanao del Sur province, south of Iligan, the military said the soldiers, travelling in a convoy, were on their way to deliver troop salaries to a remote detachment when they were ambushed by around 100 rebels, armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns.

"Our troops were taken by complete surprise," Colonel Reynaldo Ardo, an army brigade commander in Lanao del Sur province, told reporters.

"Our boys were never given a chance to fight back. After 10 minutes of heavy gunfire, the rebels withdrew to a nearby wooded area. We're sending additional forces to punish the rebels. We can't allow this to happen."

Four regular soldiers and three part-time troopers were killed in the first volley of machine gun fire. A dozen other troopers were wounded as they sought cover behind their wrecked vehicles.

Last week, air force planes bombed MILF positions for four straight days, triggering an exodus of around 160,000 people in seven towns in North Cotabato. Manila had accused the guerrillas of occupying Catholic farms in the area.

Analysts have said both sides were flexing their military muscles after the Supreme Court's temporary halting of the territorial deal marked another setback in long-running talks to end a separatist conflict that has killed over 120,000 people.

Legal experts expect the court will rule that the agreement, which gives a future government of an expanded Muslim homeland wide political and economic powers, is unconstitutional.

A spike in violence is expected following such a ruling but an all-out war is not considered likely as neither side has the resources to deliver a knockout blow. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Paul Tait)

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