COTABATO (Philippines), Aug 22: Clashes left 30 rebels dead in the southern Philippines overnight, just hours after the government scrapped a controversial peace deal with the Muslim guerillas, the military said on Friday.

The rebels were slain in villages bordering the Liguasan marshes around Maguindanao, said local military spokesman Colonel Julieto Ando.

“All were killed in two days of simultaneous air and ground assaults,” he said.

Major Armand Rico, an army official, said the number of soldiers wounded had risen to 12 as Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels fought the military offensive on their stronghold near Liguasan marsh.

“They are familiar with the terrain in the Liguasan marshland, they have expertise in moving there so the military had to use air assets,” Ando said.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said it had agreed with the government to provide an additional 250 metric tons of rice to help feed some 60,000 people displaced by the fighting in Maguindanao.

Some 220,000 people have been displaced since the fighting began two weeks ago, according to the WFP.

Rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu said on Friday that “fighting continued today with the military using air and ground assets, apparently to get Commander Kato.” Umbra Kato is a rebel MILF commander who launched a series of attacks on villages and towns two weeks ago that have killed scores and displaced thousands of people.

Military reports say about 100 people have been killed in two weeks of fighting between the government and MILF.

Two attack aircraft bombed and strafed MILF positions near the town of Datu Piang on Thursday, and the rebels fought back with mortar fire, said local army commander Colonel Marlou Salazar.

The MILF attacks came after the Philippine Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against signing the peace agreement.

The limited autonomy pact between the government of the mainly Christian nation and the 12,000-strong rebel group aimed to end a 40-year-old conflict that has left more than 120,000 dead.

President Gloria Arroyo scrapped the deal on Thursday after Christians and politicians in Mindanao island objected to what they saw as an unconstitutional move to create an independent Muslim state.

Amnesty International said on Friday that political leaders in the southern Philippines have started arming civilians and local militias against further rebel attacks.

The Amnesty said it had “verified” reports that civilians in several parts of revolt-hit Mindanao were either arming themselves or being given arms by local officials.

The government has put a bounty of 10 million pesos ($220,000) on the heads of Kato and another MILF commander, Abdurahman Macapaar, also known as Commander Bravo, who have defied orders from MILF leadership to stand down.—AFP