The Straits Times - Latest News > S-E Asia

June 25, 2008

11 killed as Philippines troops clash with insurgents: military

ZAMBOANGA (Philippines) - AT least 11 people were killed in a new outbreak of violence on Wednesday between troops and Muslim militants, threatening a fragile peace accord in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters launched simultaneous and apparently coordinated attacks against two outposts near Maitum and Tugaig towns in the southern island of Mindanao, said regional military spokesman Major Julieto Ando.

'Rebel forces attacked military posts with mortars and anti-tank rockets and troops only retaliated in self-defence,' he said, accusing the MILF of launching the offensive while soldiers were helping villagers affected by heavy rains caused by Typhoon Fengshen.

Maj Ando said intelligence reports revealed that 10 MILF fighters were killed with no fatalities on the government side.

Another military spokesman, Major Armand Rico said one civilian had been slain in the violence.

'A firefight is still going on and troops are holding defensive positions,' he said, citing the military post near Maitum.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu confirmed the clashes but denied that there the country's largest Muslim separatist guerrilla group had sustained casualties.

He claimed four soldiers were slain in the fighting, which he charged was provoked by the military.

Kabalu charged that the new fighting violated a ceasefire between the government an the MILF and could prevent the resumption of stalled peace talks aimed at sealing a peace accord.

The 12,000-member MILF has been waging a separatist rebellion in the southern Mindanao region since 1978 but signed the ceasefire to open peace talks.

However negotiations have been stalled for months due to disagreements over what authority the MILF would exercise over Muslim-populated areas that they claim as their ancestral homeland. -- AFP

^^^
this is not surprising but link below tells of another story. maybe they got bored with all this ceasefire.


Wednesday, June 25, 2008
N. Cotabato residents flee amid Moro rebels firefight
By Ben O. Tesiorna

TWO warring groups of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) caused panic and evacuation among residents of Barangay Kibayan in Carmen, North Cotabato.

In a military report, the incident happened around 3 p.m. of June 22.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2008/....firefight.html

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters launched simultaneous and apparently coordinated attacks against two outposts near Maitum and Tugaig towns in the southern island of Mindanao, said regional military spokesman Major Julieto Ando.


Same event? I don't know the geography all that well.

nope, different place and different time.

Same group anyway. I didn't know what MILF meant until some bloke on the old forum started mentioning it last year, so I looked it up on Yahoo!: Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Like there is (yet) another thread now about Thailand and The Philippines, and quite a good one as it turns out so far, the reports on the recent attacks in Thailand's South that I'm a little reluctant to relay right now (with all the excitement in Bangkok), draw another parallel when we hear that activity is starting to quicken on Mindanao and around there. It's a very touchy subject, I guess.

Others might know a lot more about the truth than I can read in a newspaper.

The war between the Muslim Insurgents and the Philippines had been ongoing since 1380.

http://www.historyofjihad.org/philippines.html

That's a rather long article, but thank you. I've had a quick scan through around half of it and have bookmarked it for later reading.

With the geo-political parallels between Thailand and The Philippines somewhat similar, and with the holy grail being to some degree comprised of territory, it seems that somewhere along the line, a redivision of provincial borders to further some form of apartheid might be more peaceful than bombs and shootings throughout the entire region.

IMHO, the age of the insurgent is of more relevance than the age of the jihad, but that's an outsider's opinion.

Wow, thats a very biased site. Yes, muslims BACK THEN were on a mission to spread islam by force so does christianity. Both were on the offensive and on the defensive depending of on th place and time. Islamic "insurgency" in the past 200 years became a defensive solution to being ran over by Christianity or Foreign ownership.

BANGKOK POST: BREAKING NEWS

Southern Philippines calls for Muslim rebel talks

Manila (dpa) - More than 100,000 people gathered on Saturday in key cities in the southern Philippines, calling for the resumption of the stalled peace negotiations between the government and Muslim rebels.

Amirah Ali Lidasan, one of the organizers of the rallies, said people gathered in the cities of Marawi, Iligan, Cotabato, General Santos and Basilan to urge President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to resume talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"We challenge President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to be sincere in the peace negotiations," she said.

The call for the resumption of peace talks came amid escalating clashes between government troops and the MILF rebels.

Earlier in the week, two people were killed, three were wounded and more than a thousand fled their homes in at least three clashes between soldiers and MILF.

Eid Kabalu, MILF civil military affairs chief, said rebel commanders were getting impatient over the continued delay in the negotiations and have expressed doubt on the sincerity of the government to achieve peace in Mindanao.

Peace talks between the MILF and the government have been stalled since December 2007 over disagreements on the scope of territory to be included in a proposed Muslim homeland.

...ooo...

I hope we can learn to apply the right meaning to the MILF anagram in future, but not too much.

I like BBWs anyway I do not go for MILFs

Now that is exactly the problem.

Can you envisage how those guys are sitting there now in their barracks talking about how we infidels can't even work out what MILF represents?

They'd be laughing about us, fueling their hatred towards us because we are the fools who believe that MILF stands for Middle-Income Lady Friend, which, in my current situation, amounts to basically any friendly woman who has moved out of her folk's home.

MILF stands for Moro Islamic Liberation Front. In Kashmir and Southern Thailand, the same is going on, and are you so blind that you cannot see that your continual mockery of such an important cause only contributes to the total quota of fired ammunition. Let's not add to the extant arsenal!

Allah is not mockethed under any most-particularisedeth circumstantial ranteth.

The Philippine Government already gave the Muslims Autonomy which is based on History and Muslim Population Density.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_Re...Muslim_Mindanao

I think the Mulsims like the whole Mindanao which is not feasible because majority of Mindanao is Christian.

Mindanao is a big island, and although I know little about the situation there, I see the three southern provinces of Thailand as a sort of political island, that maybe best divided in two if they cannot live together. This is not nearly as easy as bombing or shooting people. That's kid's stuff.

If someone's religion prevents them from living in the same community as others of different religion, then it is up to those people to adapt or move. Bombs are not toys.