Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Lt Gen. Emmanuel Bautista INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Government troops are collaborating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in going after a new threat group suspected to be behind the recent spate of bomb attacks in Mindanao.
“We have operations ongoing jointly with the MILF to scour the areas in Mindanao certain areas, Mt. Kararao complex for instance, [to] search for possible areas of the terrorist groups,” Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of Staff General Emmanuel Bautista said in a press conference organized by the Manila Overseas Press Club.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin identified earlier in a report that the Kilafah Islamic Movement (KIM) includes members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and rogue members of the MILF who want to sabotage the peace talks.
The AFP chief also identified the KIM as suspects behind the bombing in Cagayan de Oro City last July which killed eight and injured 40 others.
Bautista said the rebels are “moving around” and have no homebase, but are mostly in Central Mindanao — in Cotabato and Lanao area.
He also said that the group was “small,” but could not give an estimate of its number.
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