At least 100 Muslim rebels were killed in
three days of airstrikes and ground assaults by government forces in the
southern Philippines, a regional army spokesman said Saturday.
Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando said the military offensive would
continue against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas in seven towns
in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.
The offensive was aimed at flushing out two senior commanders of the MILF who
led bloody attacks on several towns in the nearby provinces of North Cotabato,
Sarangani, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, Ando said.
He said 24 soldiers were wounded since the offensive started on Wednesday.
The MILF rebels went on a deadly rampage in the southern region of Mindanao,
burning homes, ransacking businesses and government buildings, and ambushing
military targets and private vehicles in the affected towns.
More than 100 people were killed in the attacks and ensuing clashes with the
military, while some 160,000 residents were displaced due to the hostilities.
The attacks followed the aborted signing of a territorial agreement between the
MILF and the Philippine government, which would have expanded an existing
autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao, the country's main southern island.
The Philippine government scrapped the deal amid strong opposition by Catholic
politicians, who challenged the agreement's constitutionality in the Supreme
Court.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo stressed that her government
remains committed to negotiating peace with the MILF, but said the rebel group
must take responsibility for the deadly attacks and surrender the commanders
that led them, dpa reported.