The government should also sign the Safe Schools Declaration, which seeks to protect schools and universities from military use by all sides during armed conflict.
BIFF spokesperson Abu Mama Misri is shown in this undated photo carrying an assault rifle.
Gunmen stormed a school after a "failed attempt" to attack a militia outpost in Barangay Malagakit at dawn on Wednesday, the military and police said.
Ten people, majority rebels, were also wounded, military and police said.
"The hostages themselves ... saw that they carted away with the bodies as they made a hasty retreat", Padilla said in a phone interview.
The gunmen managed to escape from the school after freeing the hostages and the other captives were rescued, Encinas said.
"When we say contained, we are able to [prevent] the possibility [of the assailants fleeing] out from [the school] or [getting reinforcements], because our goal here is to prevent the situation from escalating", Arevalo explained.
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May said that 151 homes were destroyed in the fire. "Obviously nobody will be living in buildings that are unsafe". Photographs of show apartments for sale highlight their plush interiors and extensive views over London .
He also explained that the BIFF's raid in Pigcawayan is not linked to the ongoing crisis in the nearby Marawi City.
"We secured them", he told the Inquirer by phone.
The attack has sparked fears that the Islamic State group, while losing territory in Syria and Iraq, may be gaining a foothold in Southeast Asia.
A militiaman, a local farmer and six BIFF rebels were killed in the hours-long fighting, which saw the rebels seizing 31 residents from the two villages as human shields, according to Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Lutera, commander of an army battalion involved in the operations.
"While our troops were slowly approaching, they fled and left behind the civilians that they held as hostages", he said.
The major rebel organizations have signed, or are pursuing, peace deals with the government, but small hardline groups such as the BIFF have vowed to continue fighting. The military believes the BIFF is supporting the Maute and other terror groups in trying to set up an ISIS caliphate in Mindanao.
Garsesa, the town mayor, said local authorities had received text messages over the past several days about an attack somewhere in the area.
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