MindaNews
Monday, 21 September 2009 10:23
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/20 September) -- Rains hampered attendance to the Eid’l Fitr prayers in Cotabato City Sunday morning while bombs rained over Indanan in Sulu just as residents were gathering for prayers in the mosques.
It was a relatively quiet morning in Cotabato City as the overnight rain had just stopped, prompting others to proceed to the mosques instead of the open field at the Cotabato Pilot Elementary School and City Hall compound. At City Hall, thousands of Muslims braved the wet grounds, as they laid down their prayer mats in preparation for the 7 a.m. rites. There would have been more as in the previous years had the rains not discouraged them.
But in Jolo, Sulu, Fatmawati Salapuddin, public relations officer of the Lupah Sug Bangsamoro Women, told MindaNews, “parang Palestine kami kanina” (it felt like we were in Palestine earlier).
Salapuddin sent MindaNews a message at 6:38 a.m. saying “we are now at the mosque for Eid’l Fitr prayers at 7 a.m. The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) has started mortar shelling now.”
An hour later, Salapuddin reported: “Shelling and air strike at MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) camp vicinity.”
The bombardments were targeting MNLF camps, she said. No one was killed but a still undetermined number of civilians were wounded.
“But prayers in all mosques were disturbed. And during Eid’l Fitr itself? Why couldn’t they wait for later in the morning? Why did they have to time it just as we were praying? Can you imagine how we felt trying to pray inside the mosques while flinching at every sound of explosion?” Salapuddin asked.
Indanan is adjacent to and very near Jolo.
Salapuddin said there would be “no problem kung open offensive na ang AFP sa MNLF dito basta sabihan lang ang public para evacuate na kami kasi madami-dami ang MNLF malaking gyera yan (no problem if the AFP has declared an open offensive against the MNLF here but please inform the public so that we can evacuate. The MNLF is a big force so that could mean a big war).
Please read more at Mindanews
