Bombings on the southern island of Mindanao, which killed eight and wounded 100, have further undermined prospects for peace, officials told IRIN, and resulted in the suspension of UN aid operations.
Many had hoped for a resumption of peace talks between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which broke down in 2008.
The first bomb exploded on 5 July outside a church in the city of Cotabato, killing six and leaving at least 55 injured.
Two days later, an early morning bomb attack on Jolo Island's commercial centre killed two and wounded 40. Soon afterwards, a car bomb apparently targeting military personnel exploded in Iligan city, wounding at least 18 people, including three soldiers - one of whom remains in critical condition.
The government was quick to blame the 12,000-strong MILF, saying its "special operations group" carried out the bombings to avenge heavy losses over the past month and to divert military operations in the south.
And while evidence linking the MILF to the attacks has yet to be established, President Gloria Arroyo's senior aide to Mindanao, Jesus Dureza, stressed the bombings were clearly meant to sow more terror and chaos on the island.
"This is no longer isolated. The attacks are orchestrated. There is a pattern," Dureza told IRIN, adding that military intelligence reports showed that from January till now, 56 bombings in the south had been carried out by MILF bombers trained by foreign militants.
According to Arroyo's spokeswoman, Lorelei Fajardo, the government's long-term goal was still to resolve the insurgency peacefully, but conceded the bombings had created an atmosphere of distrust that now threatened the resumption of peace talks.
"We cannot deny that these incidents might be a hindrance or might cause a delay for formal talks," Fajardo told reporters in Manila.
Counter charges
But Eid Kabalu, an MILF spokesman who denied the government charge, claimed the government was trying to blame it for its own security lapses.
The group has long distanced itself from radical foreign militants, he claimed, even as he conceded it once provided shelter and training to the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an Indonesia-based group blamed for the 2002 night club bombings in Bali that killed 202 people.
Kabalu blamed military "saboteurs" opposed to any peace deal with the Muslims for the attack.
"They haven't even carried out an investigation and they [the government] are already pointing to the MILF," Kabalu said.
The MILF was only prepared to sit down with the government, he said, if it stopped military offensives launched since October 2008, when the rebel group broke a five-year-old ceasefire and attacked towns and provinces across Mindanao.
The attacks followed a high court decision overturning a proposed deal to give them control over large swathes of lands they claim as ancestral.
Protection concerns
According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council, while many have returned to their villages, 258,522 people remain displaced by the fighting, with about 119,000 still in 151 government evacuation centres and the rest staying with relatives or friends.
According to a Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) report released in June, the crisis in Mindanao was the "most neglected displacement situation" in 2008.
"We are also concerned by the fact the new military operations have been accompanied by restrictions in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, as well as serious protection concerns for the displaced," Kate Half, head of the council's internal displacement monitoring centre, told IRIN.
Suspended operations
In response to the bombings, UN relief agencies have temporarily suspended all missions to Mindanao.
"We want to take a step back to understand … why this is happening and because we are concerned for the safety of our staff," Alghassim Wurie, deputy country director for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said.
The UN remained in constant touch with security officials in the south, especially in Cotabato and Iligan, where the agency maintains sub-offices with local staff, he said.
The agency had hoped to begin delivery on 13 July of more than 8,000MT of food donated by the Japanese government.
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Many had hoped for a resumption of peace talks between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which broke down in 2008.
The first bomb exploded on 5 July outside a church in the city of Cotabato, killing six and leaving at least 55 injured.
Two days later, an early morning bomb attack on Jolo Island's commercial centre killed two and wounded 40. Soon afterwards, a car bomb apparently targeting military personnel exploded in Iligan city, wounding at least 18 people, including three soldiers - one of whom remains in critical condition.
The government was quick to blame the 12,000-strong MILF, saying its "special operations group" carried out the bombings to avenge heavy losses over the past month and to divert military operations in the south.
And while evidence linking the MILF to the attacks has yet to be established, President Gloria Arroyo's senior aide to Mindanao, Jesus Dureza, stressed the bombings were clearly meant to sow more terror and chaos on the island.
"This is no longer isolated. The attacks are orchestrated. There is a pattern," Dureza told IRIN, adding that military intelligence reports showed that from January till now, 56 bombings in the south had been carried out by MILF bombers trained by foreign militants.
According to Arroyo's spokeswoman, Lorelei Fajardo, the government's long-term goal was still to resolve the insurgency peacefully, but conceded the bombings had created an atmosphere of distrust that now threatened the resumption of peace talks.
"We cannot deny that these incidents might be a hindrance or might cause a delay for formal talks," Fajardo told reporters in Manila.
Photo: Jason Gutierrez/IRIN  |
| Children sit on the floor during a WFP food distribution in Mindanao. UN agencies have temporarily suspended relief missions to the southern Philippines on security grounds |
But Eid Kabalu, an MILF spokesman who denied the government charge, claimed the government was trying to blame it for its own security lapses.
The group has long distanced itself from radical foreign militants, he claimed, even as he conceded it once provided shelter and training to the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an Indonesia-based group blamed for the 2002 night club bombings in Bali that killed 202 people.
Kabalu blamed military "saboteurs" opposed to any peace deal with the Muslims for the attack.
"They haven't even carried out an investigation and they [the government] are already pointing to the MILF," Kabalu said.
The MILF was only prepared to sit down with the government, he said, if it stopped military offensives launched since October 2008, when the rebel group broke a five-year-old ceasefire and attacked towns and provinces across Mindanao.
The attacks followed a high court decision overturning a proposed deal to give them control over large swathes of lands they claim as ancestral.
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Photo: Google Maps |
| A map showing Mindanao |
According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council, while many have returned to their villages, 258,522 people remain displaced by the fighting, with about 119,000 still in 151 government evacuation centres and the rest staying with relatives or friends.
According to a Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) report released in June, the crisis in Mindanao was the "most neglected displacement situation" in 2008.
"We are also concerned by the fact the new military operations have been accompanied by restrictions in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, as well as serious protection concerns for the displaced," Kate Half, head of the council's internal displacement monitoring centre, told IRIN.
Suspended operations
In response to the bombings, UN relief agencies have temporarily suspended all missions to Mindanao.
"We want to take a step back to understand … why this is happening and because we are concerned for the safety of our staff," Alghassim Wurie, deputy country director for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said.
The UN remained in constant touch with security officials in the south, especially in Cotabato and Iligan, where the agency maintains sub-offices with local staff, he said.
The agency had hoped to begin delivery on 13 July of more than 8,000MT of food donated by the Japanese government.
jg/ds/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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