Philippine government troops continue their assault on members of the Muslim rebel Moro National Liberation Front in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, on September 12, 2013. Philippine troops battled Muslim rebels on two fronts Thursday, after extremists attacked a second city near the southern port where militants have been holding scores of residents hostage in a four-day standoff with government forces. #

Residents, believed to be hostages, wave white sheets as they shout at troops to halt their operation in the continuing standoff with Muslim rebels in Zamboanga City, on September 11, 2013. About 200 Muslim rebels, enraged by a broken peace deal with the Philippine government, are holding scores of hostages as human shields in a continuing standoff with government forces for the third day with no solution in sight. #

Government soldiers take cover during a firefight with Muslim rebels from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Zamboanga City, on September 12, 2013. Fighting between security forces and rogue Muslim rebels seeking to declare an independent state escalated and spread to a second island, officials said. U.S.-trained commandos exchanged gunfire with a breakaway faction of the MNLF holding dozens of hostages in Zamboanga City, on the southernmost island of Mindanao. #

Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels, one of them injured, lie on the ground after they were captured at a military checkpoint in downtown Zamboanga, on September 11, 2013. #

A weapon concealed in a bag of rice carried by an MNLF rebel lies on a road after the rebel was captured at a military checkpoint in downtown Zamboanga, on September 11, 2013. #

Residents living near the area of a stand-off between the Philippine military and Muslim gunmen in Zamboanga, in dozens of boats after evacuating the city's boulevards, along the coast on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, on September 11, 2013. #

Government forces man the port at sunset as about 200 Muslim rebels, enraged by a broken peace deal with the Philippine government, hold scores of hostages as human shields in a continuing standoff with government forces at the southern port city of Zamboanga, on September 11, 2013. #

A Philippine soldier mans a machine gun inside an armored personnel carrier during a firefight between government forces and Muslim rebels in Zamboanga City, on September 12, 2013. #

A sniper of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force aims his rifle at the Muslim mosque with its minaret full of pockmarks during a standoff with Muslim rebels, on September 10, 2013, in Zamboanga. #

A policeman uses a mirror to scan the positions of Moro National Liberation Front snipers in Zamboanga, where security forces are battling hundreds of rebels who are holding dozens of civilian hostages, on September 10, 2013. #

Residents attempt to extinguish the flames from burning houses, caused by a firefight between government soldiers and Muslim rebels in a residential district in Zamboanga City, on September 12, 2013. #

Residents rush to save their belongings as fire continues to raze several homes while government troops continued an assault on Muslim rebels in Zamboanga City, on September 12, 2013. #

A man throws water on a burning house in a residential district, where a fire broke out after a clash between government soldiers and Muslim rebels in Zamboanga City, on September 12, 2013. #

A Philippine soldier fires his M-16 rifle at rebel snipers as another soldier covers his ears during a firefight between government forces and Muslim rebels in Zamboanga City, on September 12, 2013. #

Members of the Philippine national police special forces take cover as they move on enemy positions among burning houses during a firefight in Zamboanga City, on September 12, 2013. #

Firemen rush to put out a fire that razed dozens of structures during a government assault on members of the Muslim rebel Moro National Liberation Front in Zamboanga city, southern Philippines, on September 12, 2013. Philippine troops battled Muslim rebels on two fronts on Thursday, after about 150 extremists attacked a second city near the southern port where militants have been holding scores of residents hostage in a four-day standoff with government forces. #