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Moslems Make Peace, Terrorists Stumble
September 18, 2005: There appear to be at least eleven terrorist groups
operating in the Philippines, mostly in the Moslem south. The main ones are as
JI and al Qaeda, but also include lesser known groups like the Abdujarak
Janjalani Brigade, the Abu Sayyaf Group, the Alex Boncayao Brigade, the Free
Vietnam Revolutionary Group, the Indigenous People's Federal Army and several
factions of the MILF ( Moro Islamic Liberation Front). While there have been
warning of increased terrorist activity, the attacks have not yet materialized.
Last year, there were 51 terrorist attacks, causing over 220 casualties. So far
this year, there have been 25 attacks, meaning that terrorist activity is, so
far, only two-thirds of what it was last year.
September 17, 2005: A
bomb was found outside a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) building, and
disarmed three hours before it was set to go off (at 7 AM). It was believed this
was an attack by drug gangs, not Islamic terrorists.
September 16,
2005: Government and MILF (Moslem separatist) negotiators finally agreed on the
remaining issues standing in the way of a peace deal. The final item resolved
was the nature and extent of the "ancestral domain" of the Moslem people. This
was a tricky issue, as it could infringe on existing property rights and the
extent of areas controlled by local governments. Moslems once inhabited most of
the southern Philippines, but in the last century, more and more Christians
have moved in, and turned traditional "Moslem" areas into "Christian" ones.
September 12, 2005: An ammunition storage bunker at a police base in
the capital exploded. No one was killed, and it turned out to be an accident,
not a terrorist attacks. The base contains a prison for captured Islamic
terrorists.
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