The United Nations Children's Fund said Friday it was extending 500,000 dollars in additional aid to help children in the southern Philippines made homeless by fighting between troops and Muslim rebels.

 

The money would be used to help displaced families, create special areas for children in evacuation centers and ensure access to clean water and sanitation, UNICEF said in a statement issued in Manila.

 

The organization said that due to insufficient clean water, latrines and washing areas in evacuation centers, there had been "an increased incidence of diarrhea," which can be deadly to young children.

 

"A number of parents noted signs of distress among their young children as a result of prolonged warfare and displacement," UNICEF said. It was these observations that prompted the organization to undertake to set up "child-friendly spaces" in evacuation centers.

 

Fighting flared up in the southern Philippines after an August 4 ruling by the Supreme Court which suspended a draft agreement intended to pave the way for a formal peace accord with Muslim separatists.

 

Commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) responded by attacking Christian communities in the south, burning and looting homes and killing civilians.

 

The fighting has claimed about a hundred lives and forced half a million people to flee their homes. About 100,000 are still in evacuation centers.

 

The violence was the worst in five years, the International Committee of the Red Cross has said, with the military saying fighting flared up following the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.