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16 May 2009 Burning of houses, looting of
properties, indiscriminate shelling, bombing, and
terrorizing civilians are trademarks of current
government forces’ policy in their military campaign
in Mindanao not only against the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) but also against the entire
Bangsamoro people.
This was the view expressed by Mohammad Ameen,
chairperson of the MILF Secretariat, during a talk
with a foreign media reporter who is currently
visiting the war affected areas in Maguindanao and
North Cotabato.
The reporter, who was in Mindanao from May 7 – 14, was
not named but a source close to www.luwaran.com
disclosed that the reporter is writing for a huge
media network covering Southeast Asia particularly
Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia and the
Philippines.
Ameen told the reporter that in the Province of
Maguindanao alone, the Armed Forces of the Philippines
(AFP) has already burned 1,800 houses of civilians
with no reason at all except they were suspected to be
supporters or sympathizers of the MILF.
He said that on May 8, 2009, about 100 Moro houses in
Talitay, Maguindanao were burned down by Army soldiers
for the flimsy claim that they were part of a
structure of a camp allegedly owned by elusive MILF
commander Ameril Umbra Kato, who carries a P10 million
reward on his head.
One of the houses burned was worth P10 million, which
the military described as “mansion of Kato” that drew
immediate reply from the MILF, saying the house was
owned a government policeman turned drug dealer and
urged the military to investigate.
In this desperate attempt to crash the popular support
of the MILF, the military is resorting to war of
attrition believing that when the people will be on
the verge of death for lack of everything, they will
cease supporting and abandon the MILF.
Ameen called on the international community
particularly the United Nations especially its human
rights and humanitarian entities to come to the rescue
of the Bangsamoro people, who enduring so much
sufferings and brutalities from the hands of the
Philippine government and its military.
He appealed to the Organization of Islamic Conference
(OIC) and Muslim states and non-government
organizations to come to the rescue of the 600,000 or
so internally displaced persons (IDPs) mostly Muslims
who are suffering in various evacuation centers in
Mindanao particularly Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and
Lanao del Norte.
EsinIslam.Com
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