MANILA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The government forces will pursue its ongoing offensive against the recalcitrant Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels even during the Muslims' holy month Ramadan that starts on Monday, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

    "We have no orders to that effect (halt the offensive during Ramadan) so our operations will continue," Brigadier Jorge Segovia, acting commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) operations center, told reporters.

    The military leadership ordered a full-scale offensive earlier last week against the MILF, particularly field commanders Bravo and Umbra Kato who were accused of masterminding recent atrocities in the Mindanao region, in which more than 150 people were feared being killed.

    The order was given shortly after Bravo's group attacked Iligan City and four towns in Lanao del Norte province that left 28 civilians, three soldiers, and a policeman dead. Kato's group was responsible for the recent occupation of 15 villages in North Cotabato province.

    Violence has escalated in the southern Philippines over the past weeks after a territorial pact, scheduled for Aug. 5 to have been inked between the government and the MILF, was suspended by the Supreme Court on the eve of signing.