Local ISIS attacks MILF strongholds in South Philippines (Sensitive Content Warning)

COTABATO CITY - Local Muslim militants allied with the Islamic State launched simultaneous attacks against the former rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the restive southern Filipino province of Maguindanao.

At least three reports from various international sources confirmed the raids after ISIS posted the attacks on its website on Wednesday, May 17. The MILF has not released any report of the attacks in Tuayan village in Shariff Aguak town.

ISIS reported that members of the so-called Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) attacked and engaged former MILF fighters and eventually drove them out from their camps which were also torched by the militants.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) which monitors, tracks, translates, researches, and analyzes cyber jihad originating from the Middle East, Iran, South Asia, and North and West Africa reported the ISEAP attack. “Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) claims attack against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Positions in Philippines,” MEMRI announced, but the report was exclusive to its members only.

This was first reported by SITE Intelligence Group, an American for-profit consultancy group that tracks online activity of white supremacist and jihadist organizations. “In Rare Communique, ISEAP Reports Clash with MILF Fighters in Maguindanao,” it said, but just like MEMRI, its reports are exclusive to its paying members.

A photo tweeted Friday, May 19, by War Noir, a part-time weapons and conflicts researcher, shows the ISIS war booties.

But a tweet on Friday, May 19 by War Noir, a part-time weapons and conflicts researcher, reported that the attack occurred on Saturday, May 13 and was only announced May 17 by ISIS. “On May 17, 2023, the Islamic State East Asia Province (ISEAP) claimed responsibility for a May 13 attack against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) positions with machine guns, in the village of Tuayan, in the area of Maguindanao, southern Philippines, causing MILF operatives to flee. Later, ISEAP fighters burned the positions and seized an RPG launcher,” War Noir tweeted with an accompanying photo of ISEAP war booties.

It was unknown whether Philippine authorities were unaware of the ISEAP attacks or have not reported the clashes for a still unknown reason. The leader of the MILF, Ahod Ebrahim, who now sits as Chief Minister of the Bangsamoro autonomous region, has also not released any statement.

MILF vs. MILF

Just last month, two MILF groups also clashed in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao over control of territories. The recent fighting in the villages of Madia and Dapiawan was between forces of the MILF’s 105^th Base Command of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BILF) under Commander Moat Sindatuk and Commander Bobby Adam of the 118^th Base Command of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces. It was unclear whether the fighting between the two MILF forces was connected to the ISEAP attacks.

The town is just 54 kilometers from Cotabato City, the seat of power of the regional government where Ebrahim and other senior MILF officials he appointed hold office. The violence and infighting among MILF forces have further placed Ebrahim in a position where he failed to control his warring top commanders. 

The sporadic battle, according to police and military reports, had killed at least a dozen MILF fighters from both sides and forced thousands of civilians in several villages to flee to safety. Worse, the bloodshed occurred on the last day of the holy month of Ramadan.  

The BILF is the armed wing of the MILF which signed a peace deal with the Filipino government in 2014 after 17 years of negotiations. However, despite the accord, members of the MILF are still fully armed and even expanded their territories and its members increased tenfold from a mere military estimate of 12,000. 

The clashes also forced security forces and armored troops carriers to deploy and secure vital government installations and highways linking the province to North Cotabato province to ensure the safety of travellers and civilians.  The latest fighting was not the first as both groups also clashed in recent years while trying to wrest control of territories.    

This further bolstered reports that Ebrahim is losing or had no total control over his MILF commanders and members, and that the once largest rebel group in the South has allegedly become a private army, and the others dependent on what the government promised them as part of the provisions of the peace deal.     

Last February 7, MILF forces held hostage 39 elite army soldiers in the village of Dilimbayan in Maguing town in Lanao del Sur province and released them a day later after security officials negotiated for their freedom.  

The soldiers were all disarmed and brought them to an MILF camp where heavily armed men guarded them throughout the night. The infantrymen, part of a group that stormed a communist rebel base near the town, were returning to their rendezvous when MILF forces surrounded and captured them.  

Members of the government’s ceasefire committee negotiated with their MILF counterpart and successfully recovered the soldiers after their release. It was unknown whether MILF gunmen returned the weapons they seized from the Special Forces soldiers after the disgraceful incident. (Mindanao Examiner)