ILIGAN (Philippines), Aug 19: Troops on Tuesday stepped up a manhunt for Muslim separatist rebels after a murderous rampage in the southern Philippines left 38 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 on Monday, looting businesses, burning houses and taking dozens of people hostage.

The near-simultaneous raids began at dawn, triggering intense gun battles in the mostly Christian towns of Kolambugan and Kauswagan that raged until noon.

Villagers were trickling back into their devastated communities on Tuesday, only to find debris where their houses once stood.

Some civilians were seen arming themselves with machetes and guns to fight off any future attacks.

Five more bodies were retrieved from Kolambugan on Tuesday, said town mayor Beltran Lumaque, while two more were recovered from Kauswagan, police said.

The death toll stands at 38, including three soldiers, while dozens of others were injured and nearly 10,000 displaced by the fighting.

“They killed innocent, defenceless civilians. People are traumatised. We need food, medicines. We want the soldiers here,” said Lumaque of Kolambugan.

President Gloria Arroyo’s spokesman Jesus Dureza called for calm, but he admitted peace talks with 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.” The United States said it remained committed to funnelling millions of dollars in development aid into Mindanao despite the recent unrest.

Ambassador Kristie Kenney said the United States and the Philippines were “friends for life” when asked if Washington would freeze assistance in the wake of the attacks.

“We’re not going to walk away just because there have been a few bad days,” Kenney said, adding she was hopeful the two sides could return to the negotiating table.

Military vice chief of staff Lieutenant General Cardoso Luna said troop reinforcements have been sent to the area to pursue the rebels, who fled into nearby woods.

“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 ground operations.

Stephen Anderson, who heads the UN’s World Food Programme in the Philippines, said his office was working with local authorities to assist refugees.

The WFP airlifted about 400 tonnes of rice to Mindanao last week, and Anderson said they were prepared to deploy more assistance if needed.

“Concerns have been expressed that the humanitarian situation seems to be deteriorating,” Anderson said.

The rebel raids on Monday came a day after MILF ambushed a military convoy, killing four soldiers and three pro-government militiamen.

MILF signed a ceasefire agreement with Manila in 2003 that opened the way for peace talks.

However, two weeks ago the Supreme Court halted a deal that was intended to create a political settlement for the area and included an expanded Muslim autonomous zone. 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 that 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 MILF’s 30-year rebellion has left more than 120,000 people dead.

MILF spokesman Mohagher Iqbal said the rebel leadership believed in the “primacy of the peace process” and the guerrillas involved in the fighting belonged to a faction frustrated with the aborted land deal.

“This is a consequence of the non-movement of the peace process,” he said.

MILF’s leadership was moving to restrain fighters on the ground, Iqbal said, noting he was not sure the attacks would immediately stop.—AFP