MANILA, Philippines -- A Moro rebel commander being pursued by security forces for attacks on towns in Lanao del Norte earlier this week denied responsibility for the carnage but said he was ready for an "all out war" if the government insists on hunting him down.

The government has put up a P5-million bounty for Abdulrahman Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, chief of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) 102nd Base Command, which authorities say attacked five Lanao del Norte towns Monday, leaving more than 40 people, mostly civilians, dead and burning homes and buildings before they were driven back by a military counterattack.

A similar reward has been put up for another MILF commander, Ameril Umbra Kato, whose men occupied several villages in North Cotabato until government forces mounted an offensive to dislodge them last week.

But in an interview over Radio Mindanao Network (RMN), Macapaar said the Lanao attacks were the handiwork of “mujahedin” or "soldiers of Allah."

The mujahedin, Bravo said, were frustrated over the aborted signing of a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) between the government and MILF that would pave the way for the expansion of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) into the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

However, MILF civil military affairs chief Eid Kabalu, said any fighters claiming to be mujahedin in Lanao del Norte are Bravo’s men.

"In the entire province of Lanao del Norte, if there are groups claiming to be affiliated with them, mujahedin, claiming to be fighters of Allah, [they are] attached to the 102nd Base Command [of which] he [Bravo] is the commander."

The Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the MOA-AD on petitions filed by officials of North Cotabato and Zamboanga City seeking to have the agreement declared illegal. Several more groups and even government officials have filed similar petitions.

The hostilities in North Cotabato broke out right after the TRO was issued.

"Yung mga mujahedin na yan, sundalo ng Allah. Sa amin wala kaming alam diyan [sa Lanao], nandito kami sa kampo. Yung mga mujahedin, hindi sila makapagtiis dahil sa MOA [Those mujahedin, they are soldiers of Allah. We have nothing to do with that, we are here in our camps. Those mujahideen could not take what happened with the MOA]," Macapaar said.

But when pressed by the anchors, Bravo said he was not declaring a "jihad" or holy war against government forces.

"Kung may all-out war ang gobyerno, kami rin, all-out war [If the government declares an all-out war, we will also declare an all-out war]," he said.

"Kung dumating ang mga sundalo dito handa po kami makibarilan hanggang maubos kami. Kung hindi nila kami maubos, uubusin namin sila [If the soldiers come here, we are ready to shoot it out with them until we are wiped out. If they cannot wipe us out, we will wipe them out]," he said.

Bravo said North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol, Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat, Iligan City Mayor Lawrence Cruz -- who filed the petitions against the MOA-AD -- and the Supreme Court were responsible for the mujahedin’s rampage in Lanao del Norte, although he clarified that he was not targeting them.

"Yan, yung mga namatay na civilian ang gumawa diyan yung apat na yan [The four of them are responsible for the deaths of civilians]," he said.