MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 2) The military has dislodged Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels from five more villages in North Cotabato, although its governor claimed that the rebels had cleared all 15 strongholds.

Governor Jesus Sacdalan also said that the more than 100,000 displaced individuals have started to return home.

“All the MILF rebels have abandoned the barangay [village] they occupied,” Sacdalan said, quoting police and military officials.

The portion of the highway linking Cotabato and Davao which was briefly occupied by the MILF guerillas Monday morning was opened.

Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for political affairs, said the MILF forces under Ombra Kato have moved back to Maguindanao where the 105th base command was located.

About 800 to 1,000 fighters under Kato moved at dawn Tuesday, said Jaafar.

Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando, 6th Infantry Division spokesman, said bomb experts and Army personnel were still conducting clearing operations to ensure the civilians would be safe from dud grenades and bombs that the guerillas might have left.

But Major Armand Rico, information officer of the Eastern Mindanao command, said they couldn’t say that an area has been cleared “unless they were not physically in the area,” Rico said in a phone interview.

“The situation is very fluid, when they can’t counter the attacks, they change positions,” he added.

As of Tuesday noon, troops have "liberated" Baliki village in Midsayap town, sitio (sub-village) Tubak, Dunguan in Aleosan town, Cabpangi village in Pigkawayan town, Gayonga village in Northern Kabuntalan, and Gumaga village in Libungan town, Rico said.

"These villages have been cleared. Our troops are now positioned in the area. They were able to drive away those who forcibly occupied the villages," he said.

This leaves only eight villages occupied by the MILF. On Monday, troops cleared the villages of Upper Labas and Lagumbingan in Midsayap. When the military launched air and ground assaults last Sunday, the rebels were occupying 15 villages.

"Unless the MILF renegades will comply to leave peacefully, we shall continue with our clearing operations. Amid our intensified operations, we will not compromise the lives of the civilians residing in the affected areas," AFP Chief of Staff General Alexander Yano told a news conference in Camp Aguinaldo Tuesday.

Yano said troops were taking "appropriate action" to prevent a spillover of hostilities to other areas. He also asked the rebels to "rein in" and "control" their forces who have defied orders to leave the occupied villages in the towns of Aleosan, Midsayap, Pikit, Libungan, and Pigkawayan.

The number of people displaced by the fighting swelled overnight from 129,000 on Monday to 159,123 on Tuesday, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

The clearing operations in the southern province entered its third day on Tuesday, with the military conducting air and ground strikes against the rebels, some of whom have retreated to foxholes, said Brigadier General Jorge Segovia, acting chief of the AFP command center.

Segovia said it was up to field commanders to translate the directive to intensify operations "based on prevailing conditions," adding general headquarters was avoiding "micro-managing" ground troops.

"They are free to request more military assets and resources, more units if they wish to. But so far, there is no such request," Segovia said.

"There is resistance from the MILF but this is not insurmountable," he added.

Yano rejected the statement of MILF civil military affairs chief Eid Kabalu that the offensives were an attack on the rebel group as an organization.

Kabalu has denied the government's claim that the leader of rebel forces in North Cotabato, Umbra Kato, was leading breakaway forces or "lost command."

"It is very clear our operations are focused in North Cotabato. It is not widespread and simultaneous operations against all other base commands of the MILF, that has been made clear," he said.

"We have to again urge the MILF forces to rein in their forces control, so that peace will reign in those areas not only in North Cotabato but the rest of Mindanao," he added.

On Monday, MILF rebels attacked the town proper of Tipo-Tipo in the southern island province of Basilan, leaving two civilians, a Marine soldier and an estimated 15 MILF fighters killed and two Marines and a militia man wounded.

Segovia said two soldiers were killed and 15 others were wounded in the North Cotabato fighting and the Tipo-Tipo raid. He said the MILF had from 15 to 20 fatalities.

On Tuesday morning, an Army Scout Ranger was wounded in a landmine explosion in sitio Tubak, Pagangan village in Aleosan.

Yano said there was "no confirmation" yet if the Basilan incident was related to the fighting in North Cotabato.