COTABATO, Philippines
COTABATO, Philippines – Officials say Philippine troops, backed by airstrikes and artillery fire, have killed several militants aligned with the Islamic State group in a new offensive in the marshy heartland of the country’s south.
Army Maj. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana says several key militant commanders, including a long-wanted Singaporean, were among the more than 100 militants who came under attack Monday near Shariff Saydona Mustapha town in Maguindanao province. One soldier was killed and seven others were wounded in the firefight.
Sobejana said Tuesday that troops were checking if Singaporean militant Muhamad Ali Abdul Rahiman, who is also known as Muawiya, along with local commander Esmael Abdulmalik and bomb-maker Salahudin Hassan were among the wounded or slain militants.
Source: Fox News World
COTABATO, Philippines – Former Muslim guerrillas have taken over governance of a poverty- and conflict-wracked Muslim autonomous region under a peace deal partly aimed at combating Islamic State group-aligned militants in the southern Philippines.
Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebel leader Murad Ebrahim on Tuesday assumed the leadership of an 80-member transition authority dominated by his guerrilla group to govern a five-province region called Bangsamoro. The first large group of about 12,000 combatants is to be demobilized starting this year under the peace deal.
Murad says he and his insurgent group will now wage a new jihad, or holy war, against corruption and other "ills of governance."
Philippine and Western governments and the guerrillas see effective Muslim autonomy as an antidote to nearly half a century of Muslim secessionist violence.
Source: Fox News World
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