While fighting between security and Abu Sayyaf in Sulu province subsided on Friday, the number of villagers who evacuated their homes continue to rise as more families fled for their safety, officials said.
Officials said at least 5,000 people – mostly from Patikul
town – have fled their villages and sought safe refuge in other areas far away
from the violence. Many of those affected by the fighting came from the
villages of Latih, Bungkahung, Tugas and Maligay.
Sulu Governor Totoh Tan, who heads the crisis management
committee, ordered social workers to look at the welfare of the civilians and
ensure they get food aid from the provincial government. Tan already dispatched
truckloads of rice and other provisions, and medicines to the refugees.
Tan, also chairman of the provincial disaster risk reduction
and management office, also called on town mayors to look into the plight of
the civilians, especially women, children and elderly people and coordinate
with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other aid agencies to
ensure their welfare and safety.
“The active participation of all local government units is a
must. Our task must be properly coordinated to avoid confusion and chaos. Our
priority is to provide assistance and relief to our displaced citizens,” he
said.
Some 8,000 soldiers were sent to Sulu, one of 5 provinces
under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, to help local troops and
policemen destroy the Abu Sayyaf, blamed by authorities for the spate of
terrorism and ransom kidnappings.
Dozens of soldiers and militants had been killed and wounded
in fierce clashes the past weeks in Sulu where the Abu Sayyaf pledged
allegiance with the Islamic State. The Abu Sayyaf is also believed coddling
Indonesian and Malaysian jihadists in the province.
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the military to destroy
the Abu Sayyaf and at the same time convinced Nur Misuari, chieftain of the
former rebel group Moro National Liberation Front to support the campaign and
not provide refuge to the militant group, whose members were mostly ex-fighters
of the MNLF which signed a peace deal with Manila
Misuari is also wanted by authorities on rebellion charges
following deadly attacks by his followers in Zamboanga City
Duterte also invited Misuari for a dialogue in an effort to
boost the peace process in the restive region where Muslims are demanding for
the establishment of their own homeland or a wider autonomy over Mindanao which is rich in natural resources.
http://mindanaoexaminer.com/guns-fall-silent-in-sulu-but-number-of-war-refugees-swell/
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