Agence France-Presse

ILIGAN - At least 28 civilians and three soldiers were killed Monday in a wave of Muslim separatist rebel attacks in the southern Philippines, witnesses and officials said.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels raided several towns in southern Lanao del Norte province, looting businesses, burning homes and randomly attacking the mostly Christian villagers, officials said.

Nine bodies were lying bloodied by a roadside in the village of Lapayan in Kauswagan town as black smoke billowed from houses burning nearby, AFP reporters said.

Five other civilians were killed in a neighbouring village, residents fleeing the area told AFP. Six more bodies were found in Kauswagan later Monday.

All 20 bodies were taken by troops to two mortuaries in Iligan city a few kilometres (miles) away, an AFP reporter saw.

Meanwhile, in the town of Kolambugan, six civilians and three soldiers were killed, mayor Beltran Lumaque said in a radio interview.

Another rebel unit struck the town of Maasim, leaving two civilians dead as they ransacked a pawnshop and looted a drug store, said military spokesman Major Randolph Cabangbang.

source: abs-cbnnews.com