MANILA, Philippines?The fighting in Mindanao will continue for as long as the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front does not surrender the two MILF commanders that the government blames for the renewed violence, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said on Saturday.

Teodoro said military operations in pursuit of Abdurahman Macapaar, alias Bravo, and Ombra Kato will continue until the two are arrested.

Police have filed around 150 charges ranging from murder, arson, illegal detention and robbery against Kato, Bravo and their men.

?Our operations to get them will continue and we will get them into the folds of the law,? Teodoro said.

?If they [the MILF leadership] say they will not surrender the two, that means they are tolerating them. The operations to get these commanders will continue,? Teodoro said.

MILF rebels under Kato launched attacks in villages in North Cotabato shortly after the Supreme Court on Aug. 4 suspended a draft peace agreement intended to bring an end to the Muslim 40-year rebellion by creating a separate state for the minority group in an enlarged autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao.

Since then, another MILF commander, Bravo, has also led his forces in attacking towns in the south.

Teodoro said that at least 48 soldiers and civilians and scores of Moro rebels have been killed in two weeks of fighting triggered by the collapse of the proposed deal.

About 200,000 people have fled their homes to escape the violence, he said.

Some military sources have said up to 100 rebels may have died.

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Alexander Yano said the military anticipates an escalation of the fighting.

?The operations are very much ongoing and we are anticipating armed confrontations with the two groups anytime soon,? Yano said.

He added that there are still remnants of Bravo?s and Kato?s forces in areas in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat.

?If there are still enemy forces in the area, definitely with our troops on the ground we expect more skirmishes.? Yano said.

He said the government forces are facing roughly 4,500 fighters belonging to three MILF base commands.

Commenting on statements from the MILF leadership that the hostilities would escalate if the government cancels the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain, Teodoro said: ?If they put a price to stop the fighting, to me that is extortion. If they won?t surrender Bravo and Kato, that is already intransigence or arrogance which is unreasonable.?

The MILF leadership must show good faith to try to stop the conflict from escalating by surrendering the two recalcitrants, he said.

Teodoro said the operations are ?strictly limited? to going after Bravo and Kato. He said the military operations are ?carefully controlled? to contain the conflict.

?Now it?s up to the MILF whether or not they will support their cohorts,? he said.

Teodoro said there was no sign that the rest of the 12,000-strong MILF forces were coming to the aid of Kato?s and Bravo?s men but warned that ?anybody who sympathizes with that group and joins the fray will be included in the operations,? of the military.

Yano said they have not confirmed reports that MILF fighters from other base commands have joined Kato and Bravo?s men. Reports from Jeoffrey Maitem and Nash B. Maulana with reports from Eldie Aguirre and Orlando Dinoy and AFP