Cotabato City, Philippines - A United Nations official on Wednesday expressed alarm over the growing number of people displaced by fighting between the military and Muslim separatist rebels in the southern Philippines.

Stephen Anderson, country director for the World Food Programme (WFP), visited evacuation centers in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, one of the areas affected by the military's offensive against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Anderson said the WFP has so far dispatched some 1,700 metric tons of rice for distribution to 400,000 people displaced by the hostilities since August.

But he noted that more assistance was needed as the number of evacuees was continuing to rise.

"They are afraid to go home," Anderson said. "I thought the number of people would level off but it seems it's increasing now. From our target of 400,000 people, we are now expecting more or less 600,000 people displaced."

"As I observed, the water and sanitation condition at the evacuation site is unacceptable and needs immediate action," he added.

More than 200 people, including nearly 70 civilians, have been killed in the attacks by the guerrillas and subsequent fighting between the military and MILF rebels. The Office of Civil Defence said that more than 500,000 people were forced to flee their homes.

The hostilities flared up in August after the Supreme Court stopped the signing of a territorial deal between the government and the MILF that would have expanded an existing autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao.

Frustrated by the setback, MILF rebels went on a deadly rampage, seizing dozens of villages, burning homes, raiding public markets and business establishments, as well as indiscriminately firing and hacking civilians.

The military launched an offensive with airstrikes against the rebels to flush out two commanders who led the attacks.

On Wednesday, five soldiers were wounded in a clash with MILF rebels in Calanugas town in Lanao del Sur province, according to Colonel Rey Ardo, army brigade commander.

Ardo said the air force also bombed rebel positions to support ground troops in the firefight with the guerrillas.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo eventually scrapped the controversial agreement amid questions over its constitutionality and also dissolved the government's peace negotiating team with the MILF amid the violence. dpa