Word: mindanao
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...around 8 a.m. on Aug. 17, a convoy of Philippines soldiers was traveling through Lanao del Sur, on the restive southern island of Mindanao, when, according to an army spokesmen, they were ambushed by Islamist insurgents. Four soldiers and four militiamen were killed. Before dawn the following morning, insurgents attacked two nearby towns, killing at least three more soldiers and 33 civilians. According to reports, the rebels hacked some of their victims to death with machetes. "They were killed as if like chickens," said a local army commander...
Since the 1960s, more than 120,000 people have been killed in the southern Philippines as Islamic separatists have battled government troops for control of parts of Mindanao. But this week's bloody events have pushed the region closer than ever to all-out war. On Aug. 20, the Philippine government ordered police commandos into the area with orders to kill insurgents. The government has also reportedly sent a shipment of weapons to local militias. General Alexander Yano, head of the country's armed forces, called the insurgent attacks a "virtual declaration of war," while President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered...
...government to share power in areas of Sulu, 900 km south of Manila. The MILF has been in sporadic peace talks over its claim for territory in the south, but a clash with government troops last year left 14 marines dead, 10 of them beheaded. Ranging across the rugged Mindanao terrain and further south is the Islamic terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group, which remains in open warfare with the government...
...Sayyaf] walking on the beach in front of me, there would be almost nothing I could do without Philippine assistance." The U.S. soldiers are high-value targets for the terrorists, however - in 2002 Green Beret Sergeant Mark Jackson was killed by an Abu Sayyaf bomb on the island of Mindanao. Outside the camp they wear full body armor and pack a fearsome array of weapons...
...Dodong Nalupa, from Sultan Kudarat province in Mindanao, is a dog-meat devotee, and says he indulges his appetite for it every day. "I get so energized when I eat it," Nalupa claims. "It is served in every carinderia [eatery]." Although restaurants don't display it as openly since the 1998 ban, it is common enough to be served in certain areas, and is considered a common delicacy at birthdays and other fiestas. The town maintains its supply of dog meat by collecting pets from a nearby Muslim town, where keeping dogs as domestic pets is considered unclean...