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Philippines blast aimed at ‘derailing’ peace deal
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A BOMB attack in the southern Philippines that killed 10 bus passengers, mostly students, and injured 42, was intended to derail a peace deal with Muslim rebels, two army officials said yesterday.
The Philippines signed a peace deal in March with its largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, aimed at ending four decades of conflict that killed more than 120,000 people and displaced 2 million. The rebels agreed to disband their guerrilla army and give up their weapons in exchange for more autonomy for the region. A new autonomous government is expected to be set up next year.
A rebel splinter group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, was responsible for Tuesday’s attack, a senior army commander said, adding that the rebels responsible recently received training in the use of bombs on the southern island of Mindanao. “They want to undermine the peace process,” said the commander, who accused the rebels of opposing the legal framework for autonomy, the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
“This is an act of terrorism,” added the commander, who declined to be identified.
Another army official said the BIFF opposed the government’s pact with its rivals. “They don’t want the peace process to succeed,” said the officer, who also sought anonymity.
The rebels used an 81-mm mortar, remotely detonated by a mobile phone, the senior commander said, saying the technique was one favored by a student of Abdul Basit Usman, for whom the US State Department has offered a bounty of US$1 million. A spokesman for the rebel group dismissed the army statement as a fabrication intended to malign it. “Bombing civilians would not benefit us,” said Abu Misri Mama.
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