Philippine troops team up with old enemy to fight pro-Islamic State gunmen in Mindanao
Military feeds intelligence to Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the fight against about 60 militants
The Philippine military said it has teamed up with old foes behind a long-running Muslim insurgency as it looks to eject a breakaway gang of radical militants pledging loyalty to Islamic State.
As artillery shells and rockets pounded targets nearby, soldiers were seen mingling freely with several hundred Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters who have joined an assault on gunmen in the restive southern island Mindanao.
The joint operation is the latest tactic by the Philippine government to try to stamp out pro-IS fighters, after months of battling a separate faction of militants who have besieged the city of Marawi, about 100 kilometres to the north.
Major-General Arnel dela Vega said militant groups had taken the opportunity “to build up their forces” while government troops were engaged in the Marawi conflict.
The alliance with MILF included “providing them with indirect fire support and even air support and other expertise,” he said, adding that the awkwardness of fighting alongside former long-time foes had evaporated.
A rebellion by the 10,000-strong MILF has claimed more than 100,000 lives, by government estimates. The group signed a peace treaty in 2014 but will not disarm before the government passes a proposed law granting autonomy to the Muslim regions of the mainly Catholic nation.