As the old saying goes, My brother against my brother, but both of us against our cousin. Rival jihad groups MILF and BIFF (ah, you can’t make this stuff up) duke it out in the Philippines: “Hundreds flee Philippines violence,” from Reuters, August 10 (thanks to Twostellas):
Hundreds of people fled their homes on a southern Philippine island after fighting erupted between rival Muslim rebel groups, an army spokesman said on Wednesday, raising concern peace talks with the government planned later this month could be affected.
Six people were killed and an undetermined number of fighters from both sides wounded in sporadic clashes on Mindanao island since Saturday, said Colonel Prudencio Asto.
The fighting erupted between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a separatist group which has been negotiating with the government to end a long-running insurgency, and the breakaway Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
The BIFF has rejected the peace process….
Von al Haq, a MILF spokesman, said they have been trying to get the warring groups to withdraw their forces.
“This fighting was purely because of land conflict and has nothing to do with the peace process,” al Haq said in a statement posted at the rebel website www.luwaran.com.
“We are confident the peace process will not be affected.”
Nearly 400 families had fled the fighting, with most of them temporarily housed in school buildings at the town centre.