Editing Moro Islamic Liberation Front (section)

==History==
{{See also|Moro conflict}}
[[File:MILF militant lying prone.jpg|thumb|left|A Bangsamoro fighter trains with an [[M60 machine gun]].]]

Following the [[Jabidah massacre]] in 1968, the [[Moro National Liberation Front]] (MNLF) was established clandestinely in 1969 by [[Moro people|Moro]] students studying at the [[University of the Philippines]], [[Egypt]], and in the [[Middle East]] who sought to create an independent Muslim nation in southern Philippines. The MNLF gained foreign support from [[Muammar Gaddafi]] of [[History_of_Libya_under_Muammar_Gaddafi#Great_Socialist_People's_Libyan_Arab_Jamahiriya_(1977–2011)|Libya]], which supplied arms and provided training for Moro youths.<ref name="MilitaryReview-2002">{{Cite journal |last=Turbiville |first=Graham H. Jr. |date=March–April 2002 |title=Bearer of the Sword |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xv67ozZJ1mcC&pg=RA1-PA42 |journal=Military Review |language=en |page=42}}</ref><ref name="Gross-2007">{{Cite book |last=Gross |first=Max L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJHaAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA183 |title=A Muslim Archipelago: Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia |date=2007 |publisher=National Defense Intelligence College |isbn=978-1-932946-19-2 |location=Washington, DC |page=183 |language=en}}</ref> The MNLF took part in terrorist attacks and assassinations to achieve their goals.<ref name="Huang 2002"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moro Islamic Liberation Front |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/milf.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821104005/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/milf.htm |archive-date=August 21, 2010 |access-date=June 4, 2010 |website=GlobalSecurity.org}}</ref> The government in [[Manila]] sent troops into the southern Philippines to control the insurgency. In 1976, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi brokered a negotiation between the Philippine government and MNLF Leader [[Nur Misuari]] which led to the signing of the MNLF-GRPH Tripoli Agreement of 1976 wherein the MNLF accepted the Philippine government's offer of semi-autonomy of the regions in dispute.<ref name="abuza2003pp39-40">{{Cite book |last=Abuza |first=Zachary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqgiE94IAmIC |title=Militant Islam in Southeast Asia: Crucible of Terror |date=2003 |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |isbn=1-58826-237-5 |location=Boulder |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QqgiE94IAmIC&pg=PA39 39], [https://books.google.com/books?id=QqgiE94IAmIC&pg=PA115 115] (note 3)}}</ref>

The signing of this agreement brought about a serious rift<ref name="scribd.com">{{Cite magazine |last=Sadian |first=John Carlo Gil M. |date=April 2–8, 2012 |title=The Long Struggle to Silence the Guns of Rebellion: After Decades of Communist and Separatist Insurgency, Will Peace Agreements Ever Happen? |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/89147694/The-CenSEI-Report-Vol-2-No-13-April-2-8-2012#page=3 |magazine=The CenSEI Report |volume=2 |issue=13 |via=Scribd}}</ref> in MNLF leadership, leading to the formation of a breakaway group in 1977 by Hashim Salamat and 57 MNLF officers. The group was initially known as "The New Leadership". Misuari expelled Salamat in December 1977, after which Salamat moved his new organization first to [[Cairo, Egypt]], and then, in 1980, to [[Lahore, Pakistan]], where it engaged in diplomatic activities. This organization was formally established in 1984 as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).<ref name="abuza2003pp39-40" /> Muammar Gaddafi became a longstanding supporter of the MILF after its emergence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Simons |first=Geoff |title=Libya: The Struggle for Survival |page=281 |author-link=Geoff Simons}}</ref>{{Year missing|date=September 2022}}<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mandel |first1=Daniel |last2=Afterman |first2=Gedaliah |date=February 2003 |title=A Rogue Returns: Libya Quietly Makes a Comeback |url=http://www.aijac.org.au/review/2003/282/Libya-return.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030301031212/http://www.aijac.org.au/review/2003/282/Libya-return.html |archive-date=March 1, 2003 |access-date=February 27, 2011 |website=Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Brian L. |title=Qaddafi, Terrorism, and the Origins of the U.S. Attack on Libya |date=1990 |publisher=Praeger |location=New York |language=en}}</ref>

In January 1987, the MNLF accepted the Philippine government's offer of semi-autonomy<ref name="scribd.com" /> of the regions in dispute, subsequently leading to the establishment of the [[Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao]] on November 6, 1990. The MILF, however, refused to accept this offer and continued their insurgency operations. A general cessation of hostilities between the government in Manila and the MILF was signed in July 1997, but [[2000 Philippine campaign against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front|this agreement was abolished in 2000]] by the [[Philippine Army]] under the administration of President [[Joseph Estrada]]. In response, the MILF declared a [[jihad]] against the government, its citizens and supporters. Under President [[Gloria Arroyo]], the government entered into a cease-fire agreement with the MILF and resumed peace talks.<ref name="Huang 2002" />

Despite peace negotiations and the cease-fire agreement, the MILF attacked government troops in [[Maguindanao]], resulting in at least twenty-three deaths in January 2005. The combined armies of the MILF and [[Abu Sayyaf]] were involved in days of fighting, which necessitated government troops using heavy artillery to engage rebel forces.

The bombing incident in [[Davao Airport]] in 2003, which the Philippine government blamed on MILF members,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Guinto |first=J. |date=May 13, 2003 |title=President: MILF Has until June 1 to Cut Terror Links |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}}</ref> raised speculation that the peace negotiations would be ineffectual in bringing peace to Mindanao if the MILF was unable to control its operatives. The MILF has denied ties with terrorist group [[Jemaah Islamiyah]], although Jemaah Islamiyah is considered to have provided them with training facilities in areas they control.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Group Profile: Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) |url=http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3631 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071227141113/http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3631 |archive-date=December 27, 2007 |access-date=June 4, 2010 |website=MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base}}</ref><ref name="Huang 2002">{{Cite web |last=Huang |first=Reyko |date=February 15, 2002 |title=In the Spotlight: Moro Islamic Liberation Front |url=http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/moro.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620045337/http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/moro.cfm |archive-date=June 20, 2010 |access-date=June 4, 2010 |website=Center for Defense Information }}</ref> The MILF has also continued to deny connections with [[Al-Qaeda]], though it has admitted to sending around 600 volunteers to Al-Qaeda training camps in [[Afghanistan]] and that [[Osama bin Laden]] sent money to the Philippines, though the group denies directly receiving any payment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Abuza |first=Zachary |date=2002 |title=Tentacles of Terror: Al Qaeda's Southeast Asian Network |journal=Contemporary Southeast Asia |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=427–465 |jstor=25798610}}</ref>

From June 28 to July 6, 2006, conflict between the MILF and armed civilian volunteers under Maguindanao provincial governor [[Andal Ampatuan, Sr.|Andal Ampatuan]] who were supported by the Philippine Army had been reported. The fighting began after Ampatuan blamed the MILF for a June 23 bomb attack on his motorcade, which killed five in his entourage. The MILF denied responsibility, but Ampatuan sent police and civilian volunteers to arrest MILF members connected to the attack. Four thousand families were reported displaced by the fighting that followed, which was ended by a cease-fire agreement signed on July 10 and 11.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Arguillas |first=Carolyn  |date=July 10, 2006 |title=Buffer Zones Set up to Prevent CVO-MILF Clashes in Maguindanao |work=Mindanews.com}}</ref>

Talks between the MILF and the government collapsed in 2008 after a [[Supreme Court of the Philippines|Supreme Court]] decision in [[Sema vs. COMELEC]] rejected a preliminary accord that would have expanded the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. In 2011, the MILF withdrew their demands for independence, instead saying that they would pursue substate status, likened to a [[Federated state|U.S. state]] instead of independence from the Philippines.<ref name="Teves 2010" />