Philippines says peace pact should hold despite clashes between army and rebels
Authorities say peace plan remains in place, despite clashes that claim the lives of four Moro Islamic Liberation Front fighters two weeks after the Muslim rebel group signed a peace deal
The Philippines said on Wednesday it was confident a peace deal with the country’s largest Muslim rebel group would hold despite fresh clashes that left four of its members dead.
The fighting took place just two weeks after the 10,000-member Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed a peace deal to end its decades-old rebellion that had claimed tens of thousands of lives.
MILF fighters helped a group of Islamic extremists fighting government forces on Friday, but did so without the permission of the top leadership, President Benigno Aquino’s top peace adviser Teresita Deles said.
Two soldiers and 18 gunmen were slain in the clashes on the remote southern island of Basilan, the military said, while the MILF acknowledged four of its members were among those killed.
“This will not affect the entire peace process,” Deles told reporters.
“The resolve of both parties has not waned.”
The peace treaty aims to set up an autonomous Muslim area in the south of the mainly Catholic nation early next year. The MILF is expected to disarm and put up candidates for a regional parliament in May 2016.
