IN PHOTOS: The Zamboanga Siege

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - The standoff between government troops and a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has virtually paralyzed Zamboanga City, a lively trading city of nearly a million people, with flights and ferry services suspended. Communities near the clashes resembled a war zone, with armored troop carriers lining streets, troops massing at a school and snipers taking positions atop buildings pockmarked with bullet holes.

More than 20,000 villagers have fled the fighting. The number is expected to grow as the city government ordered forced evacuation of residents in the affected villages.

The Moro rebels signed a peace deal in 1996, but did not lay down their arms and later accused the government of reneging on a promise to develop long-neglected Muslim regions. They feel left out as the government talks with a rival insurgent group's steadily progressed toward a new Muslim autonomy deal.