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| Southeast Asia |
| Dozens of militants killed after Philippines peace deal |
| 2014-01-30 |
| More than 40 people were killed and a school district supervisor was kidnapped in separate incidents around Mindanao, days after a major peace deal was struck with the largest Muslim militant group in the Philippines. The bloodiest battles involved a group opposed to the peace deal, but military leaders said the timing of the fighting was not related to the announcement of the peace agreement and was initiated by police officers and soldiers trying to arrest militants. Col. Ramon Zagala said, "There is no direct link between the signing of the peace agreement and this operation. But it has an effect on the peace process. We consider this group to be a spoiler to the peace agreement." On Saturday, the Philippine government finalized details of a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that would give the group control over an area of Mindanao and let it share the wealth from the area's resources in return for the militants gradually giving up their weapons. Many groups, including the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which has been engaged in fighting in the last few days with the military, and the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, are opposed to the deal and seek a separate, strict Islamic state on Mindanao. Two days after the weekend peace deal was struck, the Philippine police and military began an assault against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a militant group of several hundred fighters. The bodies of at least 37 militants have been recovered in remote villages in the central part of Mindanao, Zagala said. One soldier was also killed. He said, "This was a law enforcement operation initiated by the government and led by the Philippine National Police. This is not your ordinary bandit group. They are well armed and well organised, so the Armed Forces of the Philippines were needed to support the police." The police and military coordinated the operation with the MILF, the group that entered into Saturday's peace deal, because the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters operate in territory nearby. Zagala said the MILF did not oppose the government assault on the smaller militant group. In unrelated fighting on the eastern side of Mindanao, a government soldier and three militants from the communist New People's Army were killed in a battle Wednesday. On Monday, in a separate incident, a school district supervisor on the western coast of Mindanao was kidnapped by eight armed men. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #3 "Dozens of militants killed after Philippines peace deal" Maybe we need more "peace deals." :-D |
| Posted by: Barbara 2014-01-30 20:28 |
| #2 Needs a picture of Korben Dallas negotiating. (I was looking on the photo database here and might have accidentally posted a blank message. Sorry!) |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-01-30 10:26 |
| #1 muslims look at peace deals as a weakness! |
| Posted by: Paul D 2014-01-30 05:37 |