The Palace disclosed that the armed forces is confronting a new armed group in the country but assured that the security forces were dealing with it “to ensure peace and order.”
Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., said in a press briefing Tuesday that the military will focus its actions in running after the group and other armed groups.
The armed forces said on Wednesday that it monitored a new group called Justice for Islamic Movement (JIM) in Central Mindanao and it was headed by a Mohamed Ali Tambako. The new group is allegedly coddling Filipino bomb maker Basit Usman.
The military said Tambako used to be a member of the Moro National Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and has affiliation with the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiah, a militant Islamist group active in Southeast Asia.
The JIM will also be a target of the military’s all-out offensives in Maguindanao and North Cotabato, the military said.
