Land Mine Kills Two Soldiers on Peace Mission Killed in S. Philippine Town

ZAMBOANGA CITY, 7 June 2006 — A powerful land mine explosion killed two of several government soldiers on a peace mission in a remote town in the southern province of Tawi-Tawi yesterday, the military said.

The soldiers were responding to a request to mediate between two groups of fishermen who were fighting for control over a rich marine sanctuary in the village of Datal in Sapa-Sapa town, field reports reaching the military’s Southern Command headquarters in Zamboanga said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the blast and it was not clear if the bomb was deliberately detonated or not, the report said.

Because of the incident, security in the nearby province of Sulu was further tightened and Muslim villagers volunteered to help protect the US Navy hospital ship Mercy, currentlyh on a medical mission in the Philippines’ impoverished southernmost islands.

The hospital ship, staffed by a big number of Filipino-American servicemen, was anchored yesterday in the troubled island of Jolo on the second leg of its humanitarian mission.

The ship is to proceed to Bongao town in Tawi-Tawi soon.

Jolo is a stronghold of various armed Moro groups, including the militant Abu Sayyaf, which is tied to the Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah network.

Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, the commander of military forces in the troubled southern region, said Muslim villagers in Jolo have volunteered to protect the hospital ship.

The USNS Mercy is equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities and instruments and a robust multispecialized medical team capable of providing a wide range of services ashore as well as on board the ship.

Filipino civilian medical professionals and nongovernmental organizations are also working side-by-side with US and Philippine military personnel.