( CNN ) -- Muslim Moro National Liberation Front rebels were holding at least 180 hostages in Zamboanga on the Philippine island of Mindanao as troops continued to pour into the embattled city , Philippine state media said Wednesday . There are also reports that the breakaway group seized between 30 and 37 additional hostages in the city Wednesday morning , said PNA , the state news agency . Philippine Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas had earlier told a news conference that about 100 hostages were in the hands of the MNLF rebel forces in Zamboanga . Roxas said almost 13,000 people had been evacuated amid fighting between government armed forces and an estimated 300 armed Muslim rebels in blockaded areas of the city . `` The situation continues to be contained , '' Roxas said . `` Government forces continue to come in and adopt a nonaggressive stance , '' he said , adding that the government 's policy was to show restraint during the siege . Read more : Philippine rebels agree to wealth-sharing deal . He confirmed that five hostages were released Tuesday in exchange for food and that the death toll had climbed from six to seven after one of the wounded died overnight . He said 36 people had been injured in the siege . Rebels , he said , had also fired on security forces and government aircraft with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades . `` We continue to condemn these acts , '' Roxas said . Brig . Gen. Domingo Tutaan Jr. , a military spokesman , said the military was doing everything it could to prevent the violence from spilling over to other parts of the country , PNA reported . He said government forces and the rebels had a sporadic firefight in the Barangay Santa Catalina area Wednesday afternoon . Tutaan also said two rebel fighters were killed and one injured after a reported firefight in Barangay Canelar , the news agency reported . Fire department authorities told reporters that firefighters had been fired on in Santa Barbara , an area in Zamboanga held by the rebels , but there were no reports of injuries . Zamboanga 's mayor , Isabelle Climaco Salazar , said in a Facebook post that a curfew would be in place overnight and that public and private schools would remain closed Thursday . Only government offices providing front-line services will operate Thursday , she said . The mayor also urged citizens to report security concerns to authorities rather than posting them on social media `` to stop undue panic . '' She said incidents involving the MNLF were occurring only in the Talon-Talon , Santa Barbara , Santa Catalina , Kasanyangan , Canela and Mampang areas . The MNLF , a separatist movement founded in 1971 by Nur Misuari with the aim of establishing an autonomous region for Muslims in this mainly Catholic country , signed a peace deal with the central government in Manila in 1996 , though some of its members have broken away to continue a violent campaign . Under the terms of the 1996 agreement , Misuari was named as governor of an expanded Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao , or ARMM . He served until 2001 . Last month , Misuari issued a `` declaration of independence '' for the Moro nation -- referring to Mindanao 's indigenous Muslim population -- after complaining that the MNLF had been left out of a recent wealth-sharing agreement with an another insurgent group , the Moro Islamic Liberation Front , or MILF , which has fought for decades to set up an independent Islamic state on the resource-rich island of Mindanao . CNN 's Kathy Quiano and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report .
NEW : MNLF rebels are believed to be holding at least 180 hostages , state media reports . Philippine troops continue a tense standoff with Muslim rebels in Zamboanga . Authorities say almost 13,000 people have been evacuated as a result of the fighting . Comment: