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The military has arrested Ismael Marohombsar, brother of fugitive kidnap-for-ransom gang leader Faizal Marohombsar, in the southern Philippines, the military said in a belated report.

The military launched air strikes against rebel positions in the southern Philippines yesterday in the third day of fighting, military and rebel spokesmen said.

The military and the police have been tasked with hunting down five foreigners with Middle Eastern features, who reportedly arrived in Central Mindanao about a week ago, sources said.

Some 30 men, believed to be members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), ambushed and killed a civilian and wounded two others in Esperanza town, southern Kudarat, southern Philippines last Sunday, senior superintendent of police Bartolome Baluyot said in a belated report.

Members of the communist New People's Army (NPA) set on fire a 10-wheeler truck and looted houses in separate attacks in Makilala, North Cotabato on Thursday.

A bomb explosion destroyed a wall, shattered glass windows, and burned the ceiling of the field office of the education department building in nearby Sultan Kudarat, southern Philippines, on Monday afternoon, said Col Essel Soriano, local military chief.

Troops in armoured personnel carriers raided the home of Taps Jilhani, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front coordinating committee on cessation of hostilities in Cotabato's Kalanganan district before dawn on Thursday.

Ten communist New People's Army (NPA) members and five soldiers were killed in fresh clashes from Thursday to Friday in Boston town, Davao Oriental, southern Philippines, said a military and police report.

The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have agreed to respond to counter-accusations of ceasefire violations within seven days.

Relatives and friends of the suspect in the recent spate of bomb scares in Metro Manila and Mindanao said they want to bring him to justice as they strongly believe that he is responsible for such acts but have no idea where he is.

A leader and 15 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and 25 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) laid down their arms and surrendered to authorities in the southern Philippines on Sunday and Monday, a military spokesman said.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) under the leadership of the newly-elected governor Parouk Hussin has assumed the task of maintaining law and order in the region, a hotbed of separatist and hostage-taking groups.