Free Republic

Suspected Muslim guerrillas detonated a bomb near a Roman Catholic cathedral in the southern Philippines on Sunday, killing at least five people and wounding 46. The bomb exploded outside the Immaculate Conception cathedral in Cotabato city as churchgoers were attending Mass. Two people were killed instantly in the attack and three others, including a militiaman, later died in hospitals, military officials said. Among the wounded were six soldiers and militiamen who were in an army van that passed by the cathedral when the device, fashioned from a mortar round, exploded, Cotabato city Mayor Muslimin Sema said. The improvised explosive, which...

http://www.longwarjournal.org/cgi-bin/mt-search.cgi?tag=Philippines&blog_id=7 # BLOG ENTRY - QUOTE: http://www.longwarjournal.org/today-in/2008/12/the_moro_islamic_liberation_fr_1.php Moro Islamic Liberation Front killed nine people during attacks on villagers in the provinces of Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat on Christmas eve, and continued raids on Christmas day. MILF refused to change its negotiating position or representatives, but demanded a cabinet-level official head the peace panel. Find related articles: Philippines Posted by Bill Roggio on December 25, 2008 10:33 PM | Permalink

Three people have been killed after a bomb exploded at a bus station in the southern Philippines.A young boy was among the dead and at least 15 other people were hurt in the blast, in the city of Cotabato. Local police told reporters it was unlikely the explosion was related to the country's mid-term elections, held earlier this week. Cotabato is on Mindanao island, where Islamic militants have been fighting the largely Catholic government. Police chief Jomar Yap told the Associated Press that an improvised explosive device was left in a cluster of stalls at the station. "Witnesses heard...

The Philippines military says it has discovered traces of possible biological weapons in a raid on a suspected hideout of Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiah in the southern Philippine city of Cotabato. A senior military official says possible residues of a "tetanus virus-carrying chemical was among those found" in Sunday's raid, along with a "bio-terror manual". Bomb-making materials, documents and notes on assembling rocket-propelled grenades were also found during the raid, but no suspects were arrested. Military spokesman Major General Rodolfo Garcia says the documents refer to Jemaah Islamiah, but has refused to elaborate further. Last week authorities arrested...