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Philippine troops were clearing out the last remaining rebels after a six-day
operation in the South that killed dozens of militants and allowed schools
as hostages to flee
officials said Saturday police estimated the moral National Liberation Front
and I left gunman when our holding as few as seven civilian hostages in the
southern port city of them by langer
compared to more than one hundred a day earlier interior Secretary Mar Roxas
said
his comments boosted hopes that the crisis
which had left in time neighborhoods razed to the ground by the gunman forced
tens of thousands of residents to flee
would soon be resolved by today it's quite clear that not only is this
incursion being contained
rocks just told reporters from contained it has evolved into constriction
which is to reduce the operating space in the MNLF
now it is into clearing relentless day and night operations by at least 3,000
delete government troops have killed 43 rebels while nineteen others have been
detained
said military spokesman left end and colonel richmond's garner
right now we are optimistic that our operations are effective and that we are
delivering a significant blow to our enemies
he told you it P we hope that we can finish this calibrated response at the
soonest possible time
he said while refusing to give a timetable
he cautions that the remaining gunman was still dangerous
and the presence of civilians in neighborhoods where the remnants were
hiding out meant the military could only use lightweight dummy
he said the military and police forces had suffered six dead while four
civilians were also killed
the optimistic assessment of the operation came hours after Vice
President Jejomar Binay offered to broker a cease-fire between the
government and MNLF leading you on the solitary
Binay the country's number two elected official
followed president Bill Nye know a keynote is ample angle on Saturday to
discuss with the Filipino
leader a cease-fire plan that he said he had also raised with me said Larry
the truce was tentatively scheduled to take effect at midnight
1600 GMT Saturday a spokesman for the vice president told you it P
there was no immediate report on what transpired during his meeting with
Aquino
rocks is confirmed the Aquino by name meeting had taken place
said the president had not ordered the military to stop their operations
against the MNLF
the standoff began on Monday when heavily armed emina left four seasons
example and gas coastal districts and took hostages in a bid to scupper peace
talks between another militant group in the government
at one time the gunman use nearly 200 civilians as human shields
officials said the rebels also forced group in the hostages to stand between
them and attacking military units
the fighting force 69,000 people to flee their homes
the Civil Defence office said nearly 500 houses were torched by the rebels
who shot at fire trucks and to attend to the blazes
city fire marshal domina dole's a ballot told reporters
the MNLF waged a 25-year guerrilla war for independence before signing a peace
treaty in 1996 that granted limited self-rule to the South's Muslim minority
missile airy who was accused the government is violating the terms of the
1996 treaty by negotiating a separate deal with a rival faction
had disappeared from public view shortly before the fighting began Monday
the rival faction the moral Islamic Liberation Front
Mills is in the final stages of peace talks with minimal and is expected to
take over an expanded autonomous region in the south by 2016
president aquino said the peace talks with the mill famed to end decades of
rebellion that it claimed 150,000 lives in the country southern regions
on