News Story: Maute group possibly hiding in Lanao, Maguindanao border

By John Unson

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines — Islamic militants have been hiding in Mount Cararao, not in Buldon town in Maguindanao, long before the May 23 outbreak of the conflict in Marawi City, officials said early Saturday.

Mount Cararao, a vast swath of highland fields with scattered rainforests, separates the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, both in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front who belong to the Iranun tribe said on Saturday morning that the militants are nowhere near Buldon, which is located in the first district of Maguindanao.

Senior Superintendent Agustin Tello, director of the Maguindanao provincial police, said on Saturday that the municipal police office in Buldon has not reported of any presence of Maute terrorists in the municipality.

“Possibly they are in Mount Cararao which is at the border of Butig, Lanao del Sur and Buldon, Maguindanao,” Tello said.

President Rodrigo Duterte had said in a speech at the Eastern Mindanao Command Headquarters in Davao City Friday that he is apprehensive of a spillover of the hostilities in Marawi City to Buldon owing to the presence there of unidentified armed men.

He said he had thought of lifting martial law in Mindanao, which is to last until December 31, but changed his mind due to the security issues besetting Buldon.

Members of the Buldon municipal police office told reporters on Saturday that it is in Mount Cararao where suspected members of the Maute terror group were spotted.

An Iranun farmer, Limon Mandiga Botari, said he is doubtful the terrorists would try to get close to Buldon.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Abu Sayyaf kill 9 villagers in Basilan rampage

By Roel Pareño

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Abu Sayyaf terrorists swooped down on a Basilan community as it was preparing for a fiesta yesterday, opened fire and torched houses and the health center, killing at least nine villagers.

The bandits were disguised as soldiers when they attacked the village in Barangay Tubigan, Maluso town.

A militiaman who confronted the raiders was quickly overpowered and his body reportedly mutilated after he was killed.

The motive for the rampage has yet to be established.

In encounters since Sunday in Akbar town also in Basilan, government forces have killed five Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

Yesterday’s attack was the latest challenge to President Duterte, who had vowed to eat the terrorists’ liver, with salt and vinegar.

Col. Juvymax Uy, commander of Joint Task Force Basilan (JTFB), said residents were busy preparing for their fiesta when the terrorists attacked yesterday morning.

The police said the terrorists indiscriminately fired at civilian houses and vehicles passing by the area. Among those killed were a minor and three females.

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News Story: UN - Use of child soldiers persistent problem in Philippines

Child Soldier in Asia (File Photo)

By Jose Katigbak, STAR Washington bureau

WASHINGTON – The use of child soldiers by armed groups is a persistent problem in the Philippines, officials here said following revelations by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that these groups used child warriors to behead hostages.

The UN reports armed groups operating in the Philippines, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, New People’s Army, Moro National Liberation Front, the Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, continue to recruit and use children, at times through force, for combat and noncombat roles.

The US State Department in its recent Trafficking in Persons Report 2017 said protracted armed conflict and reports of recruitment and use of child soldiers by armed groups in Mindanao were continuing.

It described child soldiering as a grave human rights violation.

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News Story: Philippines - 25 killed in clashes between MILF, IS gunmen

Hanoi (VNA) – At least 25 people were killed in clashes between the government-backed Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and gunmen of the self-claimed Islamic State (IS) in southern Philippines, said the Philippine Army on August 14.

The clashes took place amid efforts of the Philippine armed forces to re-establish order in the southern island of Mindanao.

The Philippine Government and the MILF had signed a peace agreement to contain insurgents in Mindanao who pledged allegiance to the IS.

The MILF said extremists are crushing efforts to seek stronger Muslim autonomy in Mindanao, which aims to end nearly 50 years of conflict claiming over 120,000 lives and making two million people abandon their houses.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Story: Duterte bares new IS threat in Mindanao

Philippines President Duterte

By Paolo Romero

MANILA, Philippines -  President Duterte warned congressional leaders of a new Islamic State (IS)-inspired terror threat in Mindanao that could be “bigger” than the attack on Marawi City, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said yesterday.

Duterte raised the specter of more terror attacks in Mindanao during a hastily called three-hour meeting with leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday night in Malacañang.

Aside from Sotto, also present during the meeting were Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas and Senators Francis Escudero, Sonny Angara and Panfilo Lacson.

Sotto said the way he understood it, around three areas in Mindanao are under threat from IS-inspired Maute, which is being supported by other extremist groups like the Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

“The security situation will be very serious if we don’t confront it now, nip it in the bud. I think that is the message of the President, what he wanted to relay to us. He wanted us to support and help him nip it in the bud so that it does not escalate into a larger problem than what we have now in Marawi City,” Sotto told reporters.

Maute militants undertook a massive attack on Marawi City last May 23, prompting Duterte to declare martial law over Mindanao.

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Think Tank: Mindanao - a new hub for Islamic State?

Peter Chalk

In May 2017, a band of militants connected to the Maute group (MG) attacked and laid siege to the city of Marawi in the southern Philippines after security forces attempted to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, the leader of one of two factions of the Abu Sayyaf group (ASG). The assault and subsequent occupation, which took several weeks to end, has once again raised national, regional and international concern that Mindanao and its surrounding islands are rapidly emerging as a beachhead of religious violence.

A particular fear is that the so-called Islamic State (IS) will seek to ‘hijack’ this wider region in order to establish a new province or wilayah from which to launch attacks across the country and throughout Southeast Asia. However, it’s too early to conclude that the southern Philippines is devolving into a centre for transnational jihadist fanaticism or, indeed, that IS is even looking to operate from that part of the country.

Islamist extremism in the southern Philippines revolves around three principal clusters. The first is the ASG, which is primarily based in Basilan and Sulu and which for the past few years has been actively trying to find a new religious identity to define its struggle in Mindanao. In 2014, a dozen ASG cadres uploaded a video on YouTube in which they read out an Arabic statement that pledged ‘loyalty and obedience’ to IS—a bayat that Hapilon reiterated in 2016.

News Story: Philippine military to pursue leftist rebels after crushing IS extremists - defense chief

MANILA, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Thursday that government forces will be focusing on the fight against the leftist New People's Army (NPA) once the dragging armed conflict in Marawi City is over.

Lorenzana admitted that the operations against leftist rebels had been affected by the Marawi crisis, noting that troops had been pulled out to help flush out Maute Group in the city, whose members are extremists pledging allegiance to Islamic State (IS).

"It's just a consequence we were somehow (set back). We removed some of the battalions from the NPA areas and brought them to Marawi ... We lost focus and we are going to bring them back once Marawi is finished," he said.

The Duterte administration has ordered the termination of the peace talks with the leftist rebels last week, following series of attacks from NPA, including the ambush on Presidential Security Group personnel in Arakan, North Cotabato that wounded five men.

Lorenzana did not say the exact number of soldiers who were pulled out from NPA areas to fight the Maute Group in Marawi City. Sources said about 5,000 soldiers are currently assigned to liberate the city.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Military - BIFF has no credibility on supposed link with Mautes

By Ana Jacinta Olabre

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Wednesday said the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters lack the credibility to say whether they are affiliated with the Maute terrorist group or not.

When asked if the BIFF and Maute group are the same and if they have pledged allegiance to ISIS, Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, AFP spokesperson, said that the BIFF have been issuing opposing statements on the issue. 

“At one point, their spokesman is saying that they’re not related to the Mautes. At another point, they’re saying that they’re related to the Mautes and they have done this and done that,” Padilla said during a televised press briefing on Wednesday. 

He said that the BIFF has joined forces with the Maute group inside Marawi City, where security forces and terrorists have been locked in combat since May 23. 

Last Friday, Padilla also said a "tactical alliance" between the Maute terror group and the BIFF was possible since the latter had aided the forces of other local militant groups in the past.

The Maute local terrorist group attacked Marawi City on May 23 after a failed government operation against Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, whom the military says may already have fled the city.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Report: Philippine Troops Gain Against Muslim Rebels but Face Aftershocks

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Philippine officials say they are winning a month long fight against violent Muslim rebels in a southern city and expect a return to normalcy. But experts caution of new violence if the underlying discontent outlasts the battle.

Government forces “continue to gain (a) foothold” in parts of the southern city of Marawi that were previously controlled by the Maute Group, a terrorist group that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State and laid siege to the city May 23, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Wednesday via the presidential website.

Fighting to date has killed 369 people, including 276 suspected terrorists, the Manila Times reported Thursday.

News Story: Alliance between Maute and BIFF possible, military says

By Audrey Morallo

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine military on Friday admitted that a tactical alliance between two terror groups on Mindanao island was possible as it downplayed threats that the next target of Islamist operations was President Rodrigo Duterte.

Brig. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, deputy commander of the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command, said that a tactical alliance between the Maute terror group and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters was possible as the latter had augmented the forces of other local militant groups in the past.

Gapay also downplayed BIFF’s threat that its next target would be the president himself after its fighters raided a village in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato on Wednesday. The BIFF militants snatched away five residents as they fled from government troops pursuing them.

“As far as tactical alliance is concerned, that is very possible. And we have seen that in some operations wherein BIFF fighters are sending augmentation to not just to Maute but also to other local terrorist groups in the country,” the military officer said in a media conference.

The possible alliance between the BIFF and the Islamist militants currently holding small pockets of Marawi could pose more problems to a Philippine government already struggling to end the almost one-month-old siege of the city.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: ‘Marawi siege a magnet for foreign fighters’

By Pia Lee-Brago

MANILA, Philippines - With the ongoing crisis in Marawi City, the Philippines might become a “magnet” for Islamic State (IS) militants fleeing allied offensives in Mosul in Iraq, Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Año said yesterday.

He said there are indications foreign fighters are attempting to come to the country to help like-minded militants, particularly those battling government troops in Marawi City.

“Yes, that’s what we’re carefully watching because efforts of the allied forces are turning out well, and they are forecasting an IS defeat in six months,” Año said.

“So we expect those displaced to go to Asia and because of the Marawi crisis, the Philippines might serve as a magnet. And we really have to be on guard,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the trilateral meeting on security among officials of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay City.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: 8 killed, 10 wounded as military clears S. Philippine village of gunmen

DAVAO CITY, the Philippines, June 22 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people have been killed following an attack by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in a southern Philippine village on Wednesday, the Philippine military officials said on Thursday.

Government troops have retaken early Wednesday evening a school briefly held by BIFF more than 10 hours after the terrorists descended upon the farming village of Malagakit in Pigcawayan town, in Mindanao's North Cotabato province, Captain Nap Alcarioto, spokesperson of the army's 602nd InfantryBrigade, said.

A militiaman, a local farmer and six BIFF rebels were killed in the hours-long fighting, which saw the rebels seizing 31 residents from the two villages as human shields, according to Lieutenant Colonel Angelo Lutera, commander of an army battalion involved in the operations.

Ten people, most of them rebels, were also wounded, military and police said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: BIFF militants escape after hostages freed

KIDAPAWAN, Philippines — Muslim militants fled after freeing dozens of hostages from a school in a North Cotabato village on Wednesday and were being pursued by army troops, as a daylong crisis eased in the volatile region, officials said.

Gunmen from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters prepared to attack troop and militiamen outposts but were repelled by government forces early Wednesday, prompting them to seize villagers as human shields in Malagakit village in North Cotabato province, military officials said.

At least four rebels were killed and two government militiamen were wounded in the fighting, which caused nearly 1,000 villagers in Malagakit and two nearby villages to flee to safety, the officials said.

The retreating gunmen, estimated by the military and police to number from 200 to 300, later occupied a Malagakit grade school building, where they sporadically traded shots with troops up to nightfall, said local army spokesman Capt. Arvin Encinas.

During a lull in the gunbattle, 31 people, including a dozen children, were either allowed to dash to freedom or escaped from the school. Other captives in the school and more 20 other residents who were trapped in their houses later were taken to safety by troops, officials said.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Manhunt continues against gunmen who storm S. Philippine villages, classes suspended

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)

DAVAO CITY, the Philippines, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Local officials have ordered the halting of classes in at least two towns in the southern Philippines as government troops continued hunting down Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) following an attack early on Wednesday.

Philippine authorities said dozens of armed BIFF members, a breakaway group from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), attacked Pigcawayan town in Mindanao's North Cotabato province around 5 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

The armed men also broke into a school in the adjacent village of Simsiman, and fighting erupted as soldiers and police responded to drive out the gunmen numbering over one hundred, officials have said.

Classes in schools in Pigcawayan and neighboring town of Midsayap have been suspended. Romeo Arana, mayor of Midsayap, some 30 kilometers away from Pigcawayan, said class suspension was prompted by sightings of BIFF gunmen in some parts of his town.

Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr. told a press briefing in Presidential Palace that government troops are conducting pursuit operations against the rebels.

"It's already resolved," Padilla said. "They've withdrawn, they are no longer there. The school area is again safe. The troops are in pursuit mode."

Read the full story at Xinhua

Related Story: Extremists use civilians as human shield in fresh clash with troops - Philippine military

News Story: BIFF bandits attack North Cotabato village, possibly to divert troops

KIDAPAWAN, Philippines (UPDATE 4, 3:23 p.m.) — The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters raided a North Cotabato village and positioned themselves in a school as they engaged troops in a gunbattle early Wednesday that officials said may be an attempt to disrupt the massive military offensive in besieged Marawi City. 

Police Chief Inspector Realan Mamon told The Associated Press by telephone that gunmen from the BIFF raided the village of Malagakit in North Cotabato province at dawn and engaged government forces in a firefight. Villagers fled to safety.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the gunmen took five civilians to use as human shields as they retreated. None of the hostages taken Wednesday was a student of the Malagakit school, which was closed at the time of the attack.

Padilla said authorities were still trying to verify if the civilians had been freed or not. He added that a spokesman for the attackers has said they did not mean to take hostages and the civilians were taken only to help cover their withdrawal. He said no one has been reported hurt, the situation has been addressed, and the gunmen have retreated.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Report: Russia-Philippines Cooperation Agreement Includes Intel Sharing on Terrorists

One of eight cooperation agreement signed between Russia and the Philippines in May envisions intelligence sharing on terrorism, Ambassador of the Philippines in Moscow Carlos Sorreta told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — During his visit to Russia in May to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte expressed Manila's interest in advanced Russian weapons, including helicopters, planes, as well as precision-guided weapons to help combat the terror threat.

Following Duterte’s official visit to Moscow, Russia and the Philippines signed a package of agreements, highlighted by the agreement on military cooperation. Media reports suggested that Russia may be offering the Philippines some form of soft loans in the initial stage of military equipment procurement.

News Story: Soldiers foil attempt to take over military post

By John Unson

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines – Government troops foiled an attempt by armed men to take over a military detachment in Mamasapano and hoist the black flag of the Islamic State as a sign of support for the terrorist group.

Troops clashed with the gunmen, described by local officials as a “mysterious gang” linked to the Maute group and Abu Sayyaf, leaving four people dead, including an Army soldier.

Villagers identified the fatalities as Samir Bantuas, Bona Samsudin and Guiapar Angkay, whose bodies were dragged away by their companions.

The dead trooper was identified as Army Cpl. Samsudin Mohammad.

Local residents said a gunman named Tantung, who was wounded during the clashes on Sunday, died the next day.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Duterte bestows ISIS status on Maute group

By Charmaine Deogracias

MANILA, Philippines — Before May 23, 2017, the band of bandits operating in the Lanao area called Maute Group was nothing but an armed network of clans with familial ties to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. But the Maute Group is now an international terrorist organization, thanks to President Rodrigo Duterte and his declaration of martial law in Mindanao.

What is referred to in military and police reports as a local group has now been renamed Maute ISIS. Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Eduardo Año on Friday said the AFP is considering classifying the group as an international terrorist organization.

So far, only the Abu Sayyaf and the New People's Army are the Philippine groups listed in the US Department of State roster of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

Research conducted by VERA Files shows that before Mindanao was placed under martial law, police and military intelligence reports have already noted the diminishing strength of the Maute group and as well as its so-called vision to establish an Islamic State wilayah or province in Mindanao.

Both the AFP and the Philippine National Police have maintained that the group is a network of armed clans based in Lanao del Sur. They had relatives in the MILF and connections with local politicians, and maintained training and financial relations with the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiya.

But Maute had no established direct ties with the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria. Only when President Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao did Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana label the group Maute ISIS.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Report: Duterte Asks Putin for 'Help and Support in Fight Against Daesh'

The Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte arrived in Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin to expand partnership and ask for assistance in arms procurement. Sputnik Radio spoke with expert Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky in an interview about how Russia should react to such a request.

According to Duterte, the Philippines needs modern weaponry to fight Daesh and expressed hope that Moscow would assist his country in obtaining arms.

“Our country needs modern weapons, we had certain orders in the US, but currently the situation is not very smooth and in order to fight Daesh divisions and its individual factions, we need modern weapons. I have come to gain your support and ask for your help,” Duterte said.

In addition, the leader of the Philippines said that the two countries should develop trade relations. “We need to develop trade exchange,” he said.

The Russian president in turn noted that Russia and the Philippines have many joint projects, including in terms of military-technical cooperation.

News Report: President Duterte Says Martial Law in Philippines’ Mindanao May Last a Year

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday that martial law that he imposed in the southern province of Mindanao could last up to a year.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Martial law declared on the southern island of Mindanao in Philippines may last for a year if needed, Duterte said.

"How long? Well, if it would take a year to do, then we'll do it. If it's over in a month, I'd be happy," Duterte said on a plane on his way back to the Philippines from Russia.

On Tuesday, Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao following the deadly firefight between government security forces and Islamists. Duterte also cut his visit to Russia and rescheduled the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin for late Tuesday.

Among the terrorist groups that are active on the island of Mindanao are Maute, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and Abu Sayyaf militant groups, linked with the Islamic State terrorist group, outlawed in Russia and other countries.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.