Jolo - Hundreds of Muslim rebels launched an uprising on a southern Philippine island yesterday, reneging on a 1996 peace deal and raising a major challenge for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's government.
Officials said 55 people - four soldiers and 51 rebel gunmen - were killed in the fighting which occurred while Ms Arroyo was visiting the US to appeal for military aid in fighting other groups of Islamic separatists.
The apparently co-ordinated attacks on Jolo island, 960 km south of Manila, by guerrillas of the Moro National Liberation Front, were launched before dawn but by evening the government said it had the situation under control.