Humanitarian Crisis Looms In Philippines As Fighting Continues

A member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) stands at attention during a send-off ceremony inside a police headquarters in Taguig city, south of Manila August 5, 2008. Around 338 SAF troopers will be deployed in Mindanao province on Tuesday to intensify the security operations in the southern Philippines. The Philippines' Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order on Monday halting a territorial deal between the government and Muslim separatists in the latest setbacks for peace in the nation's volatile south. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco (PHILIPPINES)

Humanitarian Crisis Looms In Philippines
As Fighting Continues -- Yahoo News/AFP

ALEOSAN, Philippines (AFP) - The United Nations has begun airlifting food to the southern Philippines to try to avert a major humanitarian crisis as thousands flee fighting between Muslim rebels and troops, officials said Tuesday.

Fighting continued Tuesday as soldiers used artillery and helicopter gunships to pound rebel positions around towns and villages in North Cotabato, a poor farming region on the southern island of Mindanao.

The UN's World Food Programme has begun airlifting 400 tonnes of rice to communities affected by the conflict, with 160,000 people having fled their homes.

At the same time the Commission on Human Rights and politicians have called for a halt to the fighting to avert a humanitarian crisis.

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More News on The Civil War In Mindanao, Phillipines

Humanitarian crisis looms in Philippines as rebels retreat -- Yahoo News/AFP
Fighting abates in Philippines as rebels pull out -- Yahoo News/Reuters
UN alarmed by Philippines crisis -- Daily Telegraph (Australia)
UN alarmed by Philippines crisis -- News.com.au
Rebels retreat in Philippines -- Deutsche Welle
AFP: 46 MILF rebels killed in Mindanao clashes -- ABS-CBN
Philippine rebels say peace deal on shaky ground -- LA Times
Philippine Muslim group 'withdraws' -- Aj Jazeera
Mindanao peace at risk as rebels split -- The Age

My Comment: Another war in which the children are fighting a war that their parents started. After 40 years of conflict, you would think that they would be fed up with this conflict. While all the parties are talking peace, the demands and needs for each group will not make this deal possible. The fighting that flared up this week will start again soon.