Despite the ceasefire:
AFP attacks against MILF continue

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

The Arroyo regime brazenly and continuously disregards the Moro Islamic Liberation Front's (MILF) declaration of a 10-day ceasefire starting June 2 to pave the way for the resumption of peace talks between itself and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

Instead, Arroyo has ordered the AFP to step up its attacks against the MILF. Arroyo has also been pressuring the MILF to sign a "final peace agreement" that calls for its surrender to the regime, to turn in its forces allegedly responsible for a series of terrorist bombings and to reveal its positions � all of which are impossible for the MILF to comply with.

Thus, the scuttling of the peace talks is almost a certainty. Arroyo spokesman Ignacio Bunye has said that any day now, it is possible that the GRP will formally include the MILF in its list of "terrorists," thereby closing the door on negotiations.

A day after the MILF announced its plans for a ceasefire from June 2 to 12, OV-10 Bronco and Tora-Tora planes of the AFP bombed a barrio in Butig, Lanao del Sur. High-ranking military officials claimed that the MILF suffered many casualties.

The Muslim Multisectoral Movement for Peace and Development strongly condemned the bombings. According to MILF Vice Chairman for Military Affairs Al Haj Murad, the bombing victims were most certainly civilians since the MILF was not maintaining any camp in the area.

Murad said that the MILF Central Committee declared a ceasefire in response to calls for peace from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, the Bishops-Ulama Conference and others advocating peace in Mindanao. On the other hand, MILF Vice Chairman for Political Affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said that it would be a serious mistake for the Arroyo government to refuse to respond positively to the ceasefire.

Before the ceasefire took effect, the MILF continued its guerrilla attacks on the AFP to resist the regime's relentless military offensives. On May 31, seven elements of the CAFGU were killed in an ambush by MILF guerrillas in South Upi, Maguindanao. Earlier, on May 29, three soldiers and 12 CAFGU elements were killed in an MILF attack on two detachments of the 40th IB situated near each other, in Carmen, North Cotabato. The MILF seized two Garands and an M16.

Meanwhile, the MILF has been obliged to defend itself and wage resistance in the face of incessant attacks by government troops on MILF forces.

07 June 2003
English Edition

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