8 killed, 9 wounded in Muslim rebel attacks in Philippines
ICC Note:
Muslim rebels attacked a village in southern Mindanao this week, killing eight people and wounding nine. The Philippine government suspended peace talks with the rebels in August after some of their commanders killed dozens in Christian communities. A peace panel is now being formed to potentially resume talks.
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12/25/2008 Philippines (GMANews) At least eight civilians were killed and nine others were wounded in a series of attacks by Muslim separatist rebels in the southern Mindanao region this week, a military spokesman said Thursday.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Julieto Ando said four civilians were killed and one was wounded when rebels attacked a village in Ninoy Aquino township in Sultan Kudarat province on Tuesday. The guerrillas killed three more people in another attack on the same hamlet the following day.
“This is an atrocity against innocent civilians,” he said.
Ando said the rebels also fired mortar rounds at a military detachment in a mountain village in Alamada township in Cotabato province Wednesday, killing one civilian and wounding eight others.
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The government suspended talks with the rebels in August after three guerrilla commanders went on a bloody rampage, killing dozens in predominantly Christian communities.
The rebels said their men were frustrated after the Supreme Court scrapped a preliminary autonomy deal for minority Muslims, ruling it was unconstitutional.
The Philippine government has reconstituted its peace panel and said it wants to resume talks with the rebels who have fighting for Muslim self-rule.
