ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines: At least 4 people were killed and about three dozens wounded in a bomb attack Sunday near a Catholic church in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines, reports said.
The Catholic Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation said the bomb exploded at around 8.20 a.m. near restaurants and stalls selling roasted pigs outside the church in downtown Cotabato, also home to minority Muslims.
An army vehicle passing near the church was also hit by shrapnel from the explosion largely blamed by the military to Muslim separatist rebels.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has denied it was behind the blast and condemned the attack, saying, it was against Islamic principles.
“We condemn this attack against innocent civilians, against the Church. This is against Islamic principles and against humanity,” said Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader.
Kabalu also assailed the Army’s 6th Infantry Division for quickly linking the MILF to the attack.
He said the bombing could also be the work of right-wing saboteurs opposed to any possible resumption of peace talks.
The blast occurred after the MILF ordered its forces to further improve combat skills as fighting continues in the troubled region.
MILF chief Murad Ebrahim gave the order during a meeting with his commanders on a mountain hideout in central Mindanao where fighting since last year had forced tens of thousands of Muslims to flee their homes.
“It is only by sincere evaluation of these encounters that the MILF would be able to improve its fighting skills and capabilities and hope to lick the enemy in the next confrontation,” Murad said.
Murad said he always preferred peace negotiation over war in the resolution of the conflict in Mindanao, but continued government offensive forced the rebels to defend themselves. He called on rebel commanders to be steadfast and patient in the face of the “brutalities” of the military.
Murad also accused government troops of burning some 3,000 houses owned by Muslims and indiscriminate bombing, shelling, and arrests of civilians.
He said the military also imposed a food blockade from reaching tens of thousands of hungry refugees and prevented humanitarian groups and journalists from inspecting refugee shelters in Maguindanao.
Murad assailed the military for saying that the MILF infiltrated refugee shelters and rebels were using evacuation centers as base for reserved forces.
“The prevention of media to visit the war-torn areas by the AFP contributed to their bad image and the declaration of the military that the internally-displaced persons are reserved forces of the MILF is a blunder in the war for propaganda,” Murad said.
The military claimed more than a thousand rebels were killed in the fighting since last year. But Murad denied the report and said MILF forces killed about 500 soldiers and captured their weapons, including two unmanned aerial vehicles shot down in Maguindanao.
One of them was a US military spy plane and the other was believed to be owned by the Philippine Army. US troops are deployed in Maguindanao and helping the local military fight terrorism.
