A five-year-old boy who was kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf on July 27 in Basilan province was rescued by Marines and reunited with his parents. Formal peace talks between the government and MILF will commence on August 18 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. President Arroyo pledged in her State of the Union Address last week to sign […]
A Buddhist security guard who had just left his night shift at a rubber factory in Pattani province was murdered by two suspected Muslim gunmen who opened fire from a motorcycle. Terrorist attacks in southern Thailand are increasing, according to analysts; the total dead since the insurgency began five years ago has topped 3,500.
President Obama and President Arroyo discussed US-Philippine relations at the White House, including their mutual commitment to the fight against terrorism in the southern Philippines. In Basilan province, a civilian security volunteer was killed in an ambush by Moro Islamic Liberation Front gunmen only two kilometers outside a Philippine Marine outpost.
Philippine government resumes peace talks with MILF
A Buddhist man and his wife were murdered while they were on their way to work in Pattani province by terrorists armed with assault rifles. Three security officers were wounded by a bomb when they attempted to respond to the initial attack. In the past month, at least 40 people have been killed by Muslim […]
Police released a former bombing suspect who turned himself in to the authorities last Wednesday. The former suspect claimed that he had been convinced by Noordin Mohammed Top to become a suicide bomber in the July 17 terrorist attack in Jakarta. The police stated that the suspect had lied about his involvement in the attack.
Four Abu Sayyaf members surrendered directly to Deputy National Security Adviser Luis Singson in Sulu province; they were rushed back to Manila on board the cabinet member’s private plane. President Arroyo stated that terrorist issues will be on the agenda when she travels to Washington to meet with President Obama later this week.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front announced that it will not return to peace talks with the government unless a mediator is found, although the chief negotiator for MILF ordered his fighters to halt hostilities beginning this Saturday. Three people, including an infant, were killed when Abu Sayyaf terrorists gunned them down while they were riding […]
President Arroyo ordered the military to halt its offensives against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, to set the stage for the resumption of peace talks for the first time since last year. The military will continue to hunt down rogue MILF commanders, and has transferred hundreds of troops for a new offensive against Abu Sayyaf […]
Police detained Ariana Rahma in connection with last week’s terrorist attack in Jakarta. Rahma is married to Malaysian explosives expert Noordin Mohammad Top, the leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah-linked Tanzim Qaedat al-Jihad, who is suspected of providing the bomb-making materials for the attack. Police also released sketches of two male suspects, while Malaysian police detained […]
After analyzing DNA samples, the National Police concluded that the remains of two suspected bombers were misidentified, leaving their true identities a mystery. Some experts and officials have identified weaknesses in Indonesia’s anti-terrorism crackdown after last week’s bombings, the first Islamist terrorist attack in Indonesia in four years.
Two arrested after attack on Philippine Army detachment in Maguindanao
A bomb blast at an outpost in Central Mindanao killed a soldier; 4 policemen were wounded in an ambush when they responded to the attack. A grenade was also thrown into a grocery store in Cotabato City, wounding 7 people. On Sunday, Philippine troops rescued 5 workers who were kidnapped last Wednesday by the Moro […]
Gunmen killed a man in a drive-by shooting in Pattani province, a plantation owner in Yala province, and a shopowner in Narathiwat province. The government has accused the Muslim separatists of killing both non-Muslims and Muslims to increase tension in Thailand’s restive southern provinces.
Philippine military vows to destroy Abu Sayyaf by year-end
In southern Basilan province, Marines and security forces rescued two fishermen who were captured by Abu Sayyaf terrorists and held for over three months. Red Cross worker Eugenio Vagni flew home to Italy after six months of captivity by Abu Sayyaf.
A villager and a security volunteer, both Muslims, were killed in separate drive-by shootings in Pattani province on Tuesday. In Narathiwat province on Wednesday, a roadside bomb injured a Thai soldier performing security duty for local teachers.
Thai government extends state of emergency in southern provinces
UN resumes food aid to Mindanao
Philippine leaders call for an all-out offensive against Abu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf released Italian Red Cross worker Eugenio Vagni. The military agreed to exchange for Vagni two captured wives and the children of senior Abu Sayyaf leader Albadar Parad. On Sunday, President Arroyo will meet with the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency to discuss terrorism issues.
A roadside bomb detonated in the town of Yarang in Pattani province, killing a soldier and wounding five others as a military patrol escorted schoolteachers to work. Also in Pattani province, police discovered the body of a Muslim man shot by insurgents and dumped in a pickup truck.
United Nations cancels aid missions to southern Philippines
Four separate explosions in Mindanao killed 6 people and wounded 56, the deadliest of which occurred outside a Catholic church in Sulu province. The government dispatched 200 additional police to Lligian City, and ordered the military on full alert until President Arroyo’s State of the Union Address on July 27.
Bombing wounds 11 in southern Thailand
Moro Islamic Liberation Front has grown substantially in recent years
A bomb packed with nails exploded outside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Cotabato City, killing five people and wounding 30 during a mass presided over by an archbishop. The Pope condemned the attack; President Arroyo also ordered an anti-terrorism task force dispatched to Catabato City to hunt down those responsible.
Fresh troops dispatched to rescue Italian hostage in Philippines
Peace talks with MILF to resume in July
A bomb planted by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front exploded prematurely outside a coffee shop in Maguindanao province, killing one terrorist and wounding 15 civilians. Muhammad Ameen, chairman of MILF, announced that he believed the government was suspending peace negotiations as a counterinsurgency tactic.