The Philippines: Rebel Standoff Ends

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/28/world/asia/the-philippines-rebel-standoff-ends.html

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A deadly three-week standoff between government troops and Muslim rebels who held nearly 200 people hostage in the southern Philippines has ended with all of the captives safe, the country’s defense chief said Saturday. Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said only a handful of Moro National Liberation Front rebels remained in hiding and were being hunted by troops in the coastal outskirts of Zamboanga. More than 200 people were killed in the clashes, including 166 rebels, in one of the bloodiest attacks by a Muslim group in the south, the scene of a long-running Muslim rebellion for self-rule. Mr. Gazmin said 195 hostages had been rescued, had escaped or had been freed.