and JI guerrillas supposedly took place in MILF camps and many analysts say
the MILF has provided sanctuary to JI in its bases on Mindanao.
11
Since late
2005, the military has monitored renewed Abu Sayyaf activity on the island
province of Sulu and in parts of central Mindanao, launching offensives against
the group in the first and third quarters of 2006. In the latter part of the year, the
Philippine army beefed up its presence in Sulu, adding 1,500 more troops, which
now total 7,500. U.S. troops have been stationed in the province since 2005,
providing training to the army and doing civic action work such as building
water systems.
Still, 2006 saw the most dramatic progress on the Mindanao front since the
MILF and the government began formal negotiations in Kuala Lumpur in 2003.
Nearly 80% of the contentious issues were settled and the fighting has diminished.
While the peace is tenuous, the ceasefire is generally holding despite in-
creased truce violations in 2006. The relative lull in the fighting has allowed a
measure of normalcy to return to parts of central Mindanao that had been badly
hit in the military offensives in 2001 and 2003.