Skip to main content

IRIN Asia | Asia | Philippines | PHILIPPINES: UN appeals for peace as fighting escalates in south | Early Warning Conflict Refugees/IDPs | News Item

IRIN Asia | Asia | Philippines | PHILIPPINES: UN appeals for peace as fighting escalates in south | Early Warning Conflict Refugees/IDPs | News Item: "MANILA, 25 August 2008 (IRIN) - UN agencies have appealed for peace in the southern Philippines, where fighting between government forces and Muslim separatist rebels has escalated over the past two weeks and the number displaced is now over 270,000.

In a 22 August statement, the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) said civilian lives were at risk as a result of fighting between the army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has been attacking, and trying to take control of, civilian communities in the southern island of Mindanao.

'It is with great concern that we witness the deteriorating humanitarian situation in various parts of Mindanao as a result of the recent upsurge in conflict,' the IASC stated. 'Many civilians have lost their lives and many more are at risk.'

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Broken Spring?       : Information Clearing House

Broken Spring?       : Information Clearing House This is a sequel to my June 2011 article, ‘After the spring’, on the upheavals in the Arab world. It is an article that has been painful to write, because it brings bad tidings and offers a pessimistic analysis of the upheavals, at least in the short term, in a number of Arab countries. The outcomes and potential outcomes of these uprisings have also acquired new, very significant dimensions. These include a complex entanglement with the accelerated preparations for a possible attack on Iran, and a poisonous, sectarian aspect that could have the consequence of ripping Syria and the Middle East apart.