Moro conflict

Moro conflict
	Part of the Cold War, Civil conflict in the Philippines, war on terror, North Borneo dispute and War against the Islamic State
	; Map of Moro insurgent camps in Mindanao at the time of the 2014 ceasefire
Date	18 March 1968 – 22 February 2019; (50 years, 11 months and 4 days)
Location	Mindanao, Philippines
Result	Peace agreements declared between the Government and the MNLF/MILF; Cessation of hostilities with the MNLF and MILF; Operation Enduring Freedom ended on 23 October 2017 dealing a heavy blow to jihadist forces, reducing their numbers significantly and recapturing all their territory; Bangsamoro Transition Authority established to govern the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao until 2026; Ongoing ISIL insurgency and sporadic clashes between MNLF/MILF loyalist militias and against the government;
Territorial; changes	The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was officially ratified on 22 February 2019, and replaced the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Strength
Casualties and losses
	Total killed:; c. Hundreds of thousands; (1968–2015); Total displaced:; 2,000,000+ displaced (1970–2011) or 3,500,000+ displaced (2000–2014)
	Timeline of the conflict: Timeline

The Moro conflict was an insurgency in the Mindanao region in southern Philippines which involved multiple armed groups. A decades-long peace process has resulted in peace deals between the Philippine government and two major armed groups, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but other smaller armed groups continue to exist. In 2017, the peace council settled around 138 clan conflicts.

The root cause of the Moro conflict is associated in a long history of resistance by the Moro people against foreign rule, for centuries the region was under the control of the Spanish Empire. The U.S. had a brief war with Spain in 1898 which ended in the transfer of the Philippines to the United States, and this led to American occupation until 1946.

During the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, political tensions and open hostilities developed between the government and Moro rebel groups. The Moro insurgency was triggered by the Jabidah massacre on March 18, 1968, during which 60 Filipino Muslim commandos on a planned operation to reclaim the eastern part of the Malaysian state of Sabah were killed. To conserve the secrecy of the operation, the Malaysian government supported and funded the rebels which devastated the southern Philippines, until support ceased in 2001.

Various organizations pushing for Moro self-determination, either through autonomy or independence, were almost immediately formed in response. Although these generally did not last long until University of the Philippines professor Nur Misuari established the Moro National Liberation Front, an armed insurgent group committed to establishing an independent Mindanao, in 1972. In the following years, the MNLF splintered into several different groups including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front founded by Hashim Salamat in 1977, which sought to establish an Islamic state within the Philippines. In 1991, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani gathered radical members of the old MNLF who wanted to resume armed struggle and established the Abu Sayyaf (ASG). When the MILF modified its demands from independence to autonomy, a faction led by Ameril Umbra Kato disagreed, eventually forming the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in 2008.

Casualty statistics vary for the conflict, though the conservative estimates of the Uppsala Conflict Data Program indicate that at least 6,015 people were killed in armed conflict between the government and ASG, BIFF, MILF, MNLF between 1989 and 2012.