AFP (with thanks to Alan):

Fighting between rebel Muslims and troops in the southern Philippines has forced about 130,000 people to flee their homes, the government said Monday.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said 129,819 people had been displaced from 42 villages in North Cotabato province since the fighting began last week.

The refugees are being housed in 43 government evacuation centres in the province in the southern island of Mindanao, said Glenn Raboza, an NDCC executive officer.

The government was providing water, sanitation and food to them, he said in a statement.

The flare up of violence follows a decision last week by the Supreme Court to suspend plans for an extended Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines.

The decision saw a number of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels take control of mainly Christian villages and towns in North Cotabato province, a poor farming region in Mindanao.

While some rebels moved out after being told to do so by MILF leadership, others defied the order and began setting up defensive positions.

The 12,000-strong MILF has been waging a 30-year guerrilla campaign for a separate Islamic state in the south of the largely-Christian Philippines.