The Philippine government is closely coordinating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group in the country, to ensure that the ongoing military operations in southern Philippines would not escalate and affect the peace process, a senior government official said Sunday.
The head of the Philippines' main Muslim rebel group on Thursday (Feb 18) urged his followers to maintain a ceasefire with the government despite failure to pass a bill implementing a peace accord.
Heavy fighting involving a main Moro rebel group and its breakaway group erupted late Thursday in the southern Philippine province of North Cotabato, forcing thousands of civilians to evacuate, a military official said.
Forty-nine Philippine police personnel were believed to be killed in the Sunday gunbattle with Muslim rebels in the southern province of Maguindanao, local police said on Monday.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front remained confident that their peace talks with the government would continue despite a fierce firefight in southern Philippines on Sunday that left dozens of policemen dead, a rebel chief said Monday.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front ( MILF) on Saturday accused the Philippine military of violating the ceasefire agreement between the government and MILF, saying that massive uncoordinated military movements in areas close to MILF forces had been found early in the morning.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said Tuesday that the military deliberately attacked its fighters during an operation against the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippine province of Basilan last Friday.
The Philippine government assured Monday that the fresh hostilities between the government troops and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) in southern provinces of Maguindanao and North Cotabato would not escalate.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III embarked on a historic trip Monday deep inside the stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao in the Southern Philippines to show his sincerity in bringing to an end the decades-old Muslim insurrection in the country.
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