The Philippines crisis created by Muslim Filipinos, goes into 4th day

This is what happens when a weak govt. gives in to Muslim demands. Give them an inch and they will take entire countries.  If the  govt. of  The Philippines  had not been a corrupt, yellow-bellied mess of mush,  they would have come down hard on the trouble-makers long ago when they did   this   or this or this  or this  and would have never given them the autonomy they demanded which has now lead to the expected intensified situation.  You reap what you sow.  Will other non-Muslim countries learn from this mess?  Of course not! Everybody thinks they know how to handle the segment of their population that's  Muslim, a segment that's never ever happy  ... until it's too late and innocent lives are lost ... and all because politicians are corrupt and yellow-bellied to boot. 

From AP:   
Philippine troops battled Muslim rebels on two fronts Thursday, after the insurgents attacked a second town near the southern port where they are holding scores of residents hostage in a standoff with government forces.

The rebels attacked predominantly Christian outskirts of Lamitan town in Basilan province on Thursday morning, said Vice Mayor Roderick Furigay. Five people were missing and two wounded, he said.....

.....Basilan island province is a boat ride away from Zamboanga city, where Moro National Liberation Front fighters have been holding their hostage since Monday, when government troops repulsed their attempt to erect a rebel flag at city hall.

The three-day crisis has virtually paralyzed Zamboanga, a lively trading city of nearly a million people, with most flights and ferry services suspended. Communities near the clashes resembled a war zone, with armored troop carriers lining streets, troops massing at a school and snipers taking positions atop buildings. A mosque and its minaret were pockmarked with bullet holes......



....The talks have steadily progressed toward a new and potentially larger Muslim autonomy deal, but Misuari felt left out. Last month, his group issued new threats to secede by establishing its own republic.

At least nine combatants and villagers have been killed since the standoff in Zamboanga began, officials said. President Benigno Aquino III has sent top Cabinet officials and his military chief of staff to oversee the security crisis in the country's restive south, the scene of decades-long Muslim unrest in this predominantly Roman Catholic nation.

Misuari has not appeared in public or issued any statement since his followers barged into Zamboanga city's coast early Monday and clashed with soldiers and police.

A gunbattle erupted at rebel-held Santa Catalina village on Wednesday, where an AP photographer saw from a distance about 30 villagers, believed to be hostages, who waved white cloths in front of a house and yelled, "Don't fire, don't fire.".........

From CSMonitor:
Fighting between Muslim separatists and government troops spread to a second island in the southern Philippines today, while a hostage standoff entered its fourth day, raising fears that an insurgent threat is on the rise there.

Flames engulfed homes and periodic gunfire echoed across Zamboanga city on the island of Mindanao, where a breakaway faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has held some 170 hostages since Monday, according to Reuters and Associated Press.  

At least 13,000 people have been evacuated from districts across Zamboanga, government sources told CNN......