Moro Islamic Liberation Front

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is a Filipino secessionist group based in Mindanao, Philippines seeking autonomy of the Moro people from the central government. Under President Gloria Arroyo, the government entered into a cease-fire agreement with the MILF and resumed peace talks.

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 bombing incident in Davao Airport in 2003 which the Philippine government blamed on MILF members, raised speculation that the peace negotiations might be ineffectual in bringing peace to Mindanao if the MILF is unable to control its operatives. The MILF denied responsibility, but Ampatuan sent police and civilian volunteers to arrest MILF members connected to the attack.

On January 24, 2014, Philippine government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel Ferer and MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal signed a peace agreement in Kuala Lumpur. MILF forces would turn over their firearms to a third party selected by the MILF and the Philippine government. A MILF soldier confirmed that some of its members had been involved in gun battles, despite the MILF peace treaty with the Philippine government. Forty-four members of Philippines National Police Elite Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) were killed in a clash with members of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway group from MILF, on Sunday, January 25, 2015.