MANILA: About 45,000 people have fled their homes in the impoverished southern Philippines as the military hunts Islamic militants, including a top terror suspect wanted by the United States, authorities said on Wednesday.

Soldiers have killed dozens of members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a rebel group fighting for an independent Muslim homeland in the south, since the operation began last month, the military said.

The offensive, including attacks with artillery and helicopter gunships, has taken place in poor farming areas on Mindanao island, where Muslim rebels have for decades fought for independence.

About 45,000 people living in mostly poor farming communities have fled, fearing an expansion of the violence, said Laisa Alamia, executive secretary of the special Muslim-administered region where the fighting is raging.

She said the displaced had taken refuge with relatives or were huddling in schools, town halls and tents that the government were using as evacuation centres.

“They are cramped. It is raining in the evening and very hot in the day.

The farmers have even brought their animals, their cattle with them,” Alamia said.

The offensive is aimed at killing or capturing local extremist leader, Abdel Basit Usman, who is on the US government’s list of most-wanted terrorists with a $1-million bounty.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2015

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