Islamic Insurgency in the Philippines

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The Islamic Insurgency in the Philippines is an armed conflict of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an Islamic movement and the government of the Philippines in the Southern Philippines. The area is called by the MILF Bangsamoro and covers southern portion of Mindanao, the Sulu Archipelago, Palawan, Basilan and the neighbouring islands, around one third of the Philippines in total. Around 10 million Muslims live within this area.

Radical Muslims within Moroland consider themselves to be taking part in a jihad against the Manila colonial government, a continuation of a struggle dating back to the Spanish arrival in 1521. The government is accused of running a settlement program to bring in Christians and remove Muslims from local government posts, it has also been accused of genocide against the Moro Muslims.

The MILF is believed to have 12,000 members. The group claimed a peak strength of almost 90,000 "well-armed" men in 1998.