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ILIGAN, Philippines: Troops on Tuesday stepped up the manhunt for Muslim separatist rebels after a murderous rampage in the southern Philippines left 30 people dead and threw peace negotiations into chaos.
Hundreds of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels attacked towns in Lanao del Norte and Sarangani provinces Monday, looting business, burning houses and holding dozens hostage.
The near-simultaneous raids began at dawn, triggering intense gunbattles in the mostly Christian towns of Kolambugan and Kauswagan that raged until noon.
At least 29 civilians and three soldiers were killed, dozens injured and nearly 10,000 displaced by the fighting. Officials say the toll could rise further with some residents still missing.
President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman Jesus Dureza on Tuesday called for calm, but admitted peace talks with the MILF were now in peril.
"We're very sorry and we're very saddened by this," Dureza said in Manila. "I compare this (the talks) to a shattered glass, it would be very difficult to put the pieces together."
He stressed however that "peace is the only option for us."
Military vice chief of staff Lieutenant General Cardoso Luna said troop reinforcements have been sent to the area to go after the rebels, who had escaped into nearby woodlands.
"We have already freed the towns. We are on pursuit operations. We will not stop until we catch up with them," said Luna, who was leading the operations on the ground.
Kolambugan mayor Beltran Lumaque, whose town was the most heavily hit area, said: "They killed innocent, defenceless civilians. People are traumatised. We need food, medicines. We want the soldiers here."
He said the rebels freed late Monday eight more people they had seized to use as "human shields" against pursuing troops.
MILF rebels also ambushed on Sunday a military convoy, killing four soldiers and three pro-government militiamen.
The MILF signed a ceasefire agreement with Manila in 2003 which opened the way for peace talks.
However, on August 4 the Supreme Court halted a deal that would have expanded a Muslim autonomous area in the south to favour the MILF.
The towns attacked on Monday had opposed the proposed deal.
Arroyo condemned the attacks as "sneaky and treacherous" and ordered her troops to "defend every inch" of the Philippines.
She assured the public the government "will defend them at all costs against any move by any group that will disrupt our aspirations for a genuine and lasting peace" in Mindanao, where the MILF's 30 year rebellion has left over 120,000 dead.
MILF spokesman Mohagher Iqbal said the rebel leadership still held "primacy of the peace process" and said those who attacked belonged to a faction that were frustrated with the aborted land deal.
"This is a consequence of the non-movement of the peace process," he said.
The MILF leadership was moving to restrain fighters on the ground, Iqbal said, although he said he could not assure attacks would immediately stop.
- AFP/yb
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