HALF-MONTH WORTH of food and other supplies were distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Nov. 30-Dec. 1 to around 11,600 people in the town of Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao who have been affected by fighting between government troops and armed groups. “While the attention over the recent months has been mostly focused on the Marawi conflict, several communities in Maguindanao have also been seriously affected by armed clashes. We remain concerned about their plight as they have been displaced for more than three months,” Tomoko Matsuzawa, head of the ICRC’s office in Cotabato, said in a statement released yesterday. ICRC reported that since early August, the military and various armed groups have been engaged in armed fighting in the area known as the SPMS Box (Barangay Salbu, Datu Saudi Ampatuan — Barangay Pagatin, Datu Salibo — Mamasapano — Shariff Aguak). Nongovernment monitoring organization Conflict Alert, in its 2017 report released last week, said there has been a spread of violent extremism in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, with Maguindanao accounting for the highest number of incidents involving the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). The BIFF, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, is a breakaway group from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that has signed a peace agreement with the government. ICRC said “though majority of the displaced families have returned home to plant rice and other crops, they’re staying close to the main roads, ready to evacuate in case the fighting resumes. The remaining families, coming from areas more exposed to repeated armed encounters, have opted to stay in host communities.” — Mindanao Bureau

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