ZAMBOANGA (Philippines), Sept 12: Philippine troops battled Muslim rebels on two fronts on Thursday, after about 100 extremists attacked a second city near the southern port where guerrillas have been holding scores of residents hostage in a four-day standoff with government forces.

The latest attack was led by Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf gunmen and other militants, officials said. They planned to set fire to a village and a wharf on the rural outskirts of predominantly Christian Lamitan city on Basilan island. The attack was repulsed by government forces in an hour-long clash that left a government militiaman and an unspecified number of militants dead, and two soldiers wounded, army Col. Carlito Galvez said.

Basilan is a boat ride away from Zamboanga city, where Moro National Liberation Front fighters have been holding more than 100 hostages since Monday, when government troops fought off their attempt to erect a rebel flag at city hall.

The Moro rebels joined the Abu Sayyaf in Thursday's attack. Galvez said that the Abu Sayyaf, which is a violent faction of the Muslim separatist rebellion, was trying to take advantage of the hostage standoff in Zamboanga “to try to improve its influence and mass base support.''

Another government militiaman was missing and troops were pursuing the attackers, who were led by wanted Abu Sayyaf commanders Isnilon Hapilon and Puruji Indama, Galvez said. Thousands of army troops and police had been on full alert this week to thwart plans by the Abu Sayyaf to sow trouble in Basilan as the standoff drags on in Zamboanga, according to Galvez.—AP