Manila Three people were killed and 15 others were wounded when armed men belonging to a rebel group attacked a jail in an attempt to free a militant in southern Philippines on Sunday night, sources said Monday.

A driver of the Philippine Red Cross, whose name was not released, was shot dead while bringing wounded people to a nearby hospital following the attack by 50 armed men, who fired a rocket-propelled grenade on the wall of the Kidapawan City Jail near the municipal hall of the local government unit of North Cotabato province around 10pm, said Police Superintendent Raul Supiter, a deputy provincial commander.

Two students standing in front of a karaoke bar were also shot dead by the attackers as they reached Nuwakan village after being pursued by a joint military and police contingent that also reinforced the jail's security, said Supiter, adding that a majority of the wounded were civilians.

Civilians attacked

The gunmen, initially identified as members of the 34-year-old Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), tried to free detained Datukan Samad, also known as Lastikman, Supiter said.

The attackers, who wore ski masks, black shirts and black pants, wanted to release 15 other prisoners, another source told Gulf News. No details were given.

"The armed men attacked civilians," said Jesse Robredo, the interior and local government secretary.

The department of interior and local government had earlier sought permission of a regional trial court in Kidapawan to move Samad from North Cotabato to a city jail in Metro Manila, Robredo said. The rebels could always spring arrested members because of inadequate security in provincial jails, he said.

Samad was imprisoned in December 2011 after he was charged with kidnap-for-ransom, murder, and robbery. In response, MILF spokesman Von al Hag said the attackers could be rogue MILF members, adding that Samad was a rogue MILF member. Samad was a follower of renegade MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato, who broke away from the Milf in 2008.

Peace talks

In 2009, suspected MILF rebels failed to spring arrested comrades from North Cotabato's provincial jail. But in 2007, armed men freed 49 inmates from the same jail.

The government and the MILF have been holding on and off peace talks, with the help of Malaysia, a member of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, since 1997.