The Philippine army raided positions of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front early today, hours after fighters from the country's largest Muslim separatist organization began a unilateral 10-day truce.
Good.
An undetermined number of armed MILF members were wounded in a ``pre-emptive operation'' near the southern town of South Upi, AFP cited the local military chief, Major General Generoso Senga, as saying. Senga said the truce, which began at midnight Manila time, won't stop the army from pursuing the MILF. President Gloria Arroyo last week rejected the cease-fire as ``a ploy'' to allow the group to ``beef up plans of attack upon civilians.'' The MILF said it is observing the truce ``in letter and spirit,'' and will return to violence only if the government doesn't agree to its own cease-fire, AFP cited a spokesman, Eid Kabalu, as saying.
| They declared the truce, broke the truce, then bitch because the gummint's ignoring the truce. |
The army's attacks may be an attempt to sabotage the chances of peace with the MILF, which has been fighting for 25 years to create an Islamic state in the southern third of the largely Roman Catholic country, he told AFP. The government called off peace talks with the group and began an offensive May 17, saying the MILF had engaged in terrorism and helped terrorist organizations such as the Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group. The MILF says it isn't a terrorist group, disavowing Abu Sayyaf.
| Abu Sayyaf is just a hobby thing for MILF members. Their true objective is to gnaw off a portion of the Philippines for their own little Islamic paradise... |
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