Muslim Rebels Pursue Peace In Mindanao Under ISIS

MAMASAPANO, PHILIPPINES - AUGUST 23: A farmer sun-drying his rice harvest on August 23, 2018 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, southern Philippines. Decades of heavy fighting has left many villages in this region underdeveloped.The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or the MILF, the countrys largest Muslim rebel group is pushing for peace after nearly fifty years of war with the state in the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Despite being longtime enemies with the state, a peace deal was recently made possible between the MILF and the government when Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed the MILFs proposed law last month which paves a way for a new proposed political entity for the MILF with hopes of creating a new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and potentially ending decades of Muslim insurgency. The MILF said that this new law would bring economic development and suppress the rise of violent extremism in the area. Decades of conflict plunged the island into a cycle of poverty and violence that led to the death of more than 100,000 people and have recently gave rise to extremist influence like that of the Islamic State. The MILFs armed forces and villages under its control are now at the forefront of battle against Islamic State groups that continues to recruit people who are sympathetic to their cause. A suicide bomb attack in Basilan last month killed 11 people while martial rule was extended by Congress to December 2018 following the deadly siege of Marawi city by IS-inspired forces last year. (Photo by Jes Aznar/Getty Images)