Timeline of the Moro conflict

This is a chronology of the Moro conflict, an ongoing armed conflict in the southern Philippines between jihadist groups such as the Abu Sayyaf Group, the Maute Group, Jemaah Islamiyah, and Islamic State affiliates, mainstream separatist groups such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and the Philippine Government since 1971. Much of the fighting has been concentrated on the island of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, with spillover incidents and attacks occurring in the Philippine capital Manila and neighboring countries such as Malaysia.

Timeline of the conflict

1972

• 21 October – The Moro National Liberation Front was founded by Nur Misuari as a splinter group from the Muslim Independence Movement.

2000

• 30 January – A MILF attack on government troops in Carmen, Cotabato ended in a gunbattle with 7 MILF members killed and 3 soldiers wounded.
• 17 March – A MILF brigade led by a Abdullah Macapaar (Commander Bravo) reportedly held the siege of the municipal hall of Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte.
• 2 April – Five MILF rebels and a soldier were killed in a clash in Matungao, Lanao del Norte.
• 7 May – Eleven soldiers from the 32nd Special Forces of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were slain in an ambush by the ASG in Lantawan, Basilan.
• 16 July – A bomb explosion by suspected MILF rebels at a market in Kabacan, Cotabato killed 4 people and wounded more than 30 others.
• 16 September – Military offensive against the ASG began; 19 captives were later rescued; by mid-December, 205 ASG guerrillas and 12 from the military had been reportedly killed.
• Early November – Government troops seized a hideout of the extremists in Talipao, Sulu, with several rebels killed in the assault.
• 10 November:
  • Combined government forces prevented an attempt by MILF rebels to take over the town proper of Upi, Maguindanao and to kidnap Chinese residents; a gunbattle left 3 rebels dead.
  • A clash in Tuburan, Basilan between the militiamen and MILF rebels, who had reinforced the armed followers of a village chief, killed 2 MILF rebels and a militiaman.
  • Four ASG rebels were slain, as well as a soldier, in a clash between government forces and about 60 rebels in Talipao, Sulu.
• 11 November – MILF rebels attacked two buses while passing on the road in Pikit, Cotabato, killing a passenger and wounding 16 others.
• 23 November – Soldiers pursuing two groups of ASG fighters clashed with more than 80 guerillas in the jungle near Mt. Danao in Talipao, Sulu. Officials claimed an unknown number of rebels were slain.
• 17 December – The 12th Scout Ranger Company of the Philippine Army attacked an ASG hideout in Patikul, Sulu and fought against some 140 rebels; 7 ASG members, as well as a soldier, were killed.
• 18 December – Two MILF guerrillas were killed in a clash with the 44th Infantry Battalion in Sirawai, Zamboanga del Norte.

2006

• 10 October – Bomb attacks by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Makilala, Cotabato and Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat killed eight and wounded at least thirty others.
• 18 October – At least three persons were killed in a bomb explosion, perpetrated by the ASG, near a police camp in Jolo, Sulu.

2012

• 23 January – 193 MNLF combatants led by Hadji Obin Talab, Sharif Ahmad and Alawi Hajan allegedly defected to the MILF following a meeting in Barangay Marsada, Panglima Estino, Sulu. Ustad Habir Malik, operating in Luuk, Sulu, formerly led the MNLF defectors.

2016

Main article: 2016 Hilongos bombings

• 6 December – A soldier was killed while a policeman was wounded in separate clashes between government forces and suspected members of the Maute group in Butig, Lanao del Sur.
• 10 December – Three members of Abu Sayyaf, including a leader, were killed in a shooting between the police and the militants in Malaysia.
• 20 December – Four fishing boat crew were reportedly abducted off Sulu.
• 24 December – At least sixteen people, including a police officer, were injured in a blast outside a Catholic church in Midsayap, Cotabato.
• 28 December – Two bombs injured thirty-three people who were attending an amateur boxing match in the town of Hilongos, Leyte in the Visayas, well beyond the conflict zone in Mindanao. Authorities believe that the BIFF or the Maute group are responsible.
• 29 December – A bomb exploded on a highway in Aleosan, Cotabato, wounding six people.
• 31 December – An improvised explosive device exploded outside the municipal gymnasium of Sultan Sumagka, Maguindanao where a gathering for peace and unity was held on New Year's Eve, no one is injured.

2017

Pump boats used by Abu Sayyaf in 2017 Bohol attack

• 4 January – 2017 Kidapawan jail siege: Around 100 gunmen attack the North Cotabato District Jail in Kidapawan City. A total of 158 inmates escape, fourteen of whom are quickly recaptured, while five others are killed.
• 29 January – Two children were killed and three others were injured when a bomb went off in Al-Barka, Basilan.
• 15 February – Eight passengers were wounded when suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen shot at a bus on the outskirts of Zamboanga City.
• 27 February – a German sailor is beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf after being taken hostage since November 5, 2016.
• 16 March – A Vietnamese seafarer who was kidnapped on 19 February by the Abu Sayyaf is killed while trying to escape.
• 31 March – An improvised explosive device explodes in Midsayap, Cotabato before dawn wounding a pedicab driver and a minor.
• 11 April – 2017 Bohol clashes: The Abu Sauyaf Group launches an amphibious incursion into the province of Bohol in the Visayas, trigering a massive government operation that leaves 17 people dead.
• 13 July – The bullet-riddled body of Vietnamese national Tran Viet Van was re-covered in Barangay Buhanginan in Patikul, Sulu after being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf.
• 28 July – Nine soldiers were injured when suspected militants set off an improvised explosive device (IED) in Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao.
• 18 August – Five fighters from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) die in a clash with BIFF militants.
• 21 August – Nine people are killed, while sixteen others are wounded after Abu Sayyaf bandits attack a village in Maluso, Basilan.
• 16 October – The leader of the Abu Sayyaf Group, Isnilon Hapilon is killed by the Philippine Army, along with the co-founder of the Maute group Omar Maute in Marawi, Lanao del Sur.
• 23 October – The five-month-long siege in Marawi ended with the Philippine Government declaring victory.
• 24 October – The Maute group is declared "practically wiped out" by the Armed Forces of the Philippines following the deaths of the seven Maute brothers.
• 15 December – Remnants of the Maute group reportedly are recruiting new members around Marawi. The successor group has been labeled as the "Turaifie group" after its purported leader, Abu Turaifie.
• 31 December –
  • Two people were killed and sixteen others were injured when an improvised bomb went off along the national highway in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat.
  • A policeman is killed while five others are injured when a bomb explodes as a police vehicle passes some 400 meters from the provincial headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.

2018

• 1 January – Two soldiers from the 57th IB are injured when an improvised explosive device explodes near the provincial hospital in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.
• 8 January – Five Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and a soldier were killed in a five-hour attack in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao
• 9 January – A soldier is killed while two civilians are injured when a suspected Islamic State-inspired group sets off two separate roadside bombs in Maguindanao
• 19 January – Two explosions rock Barangay Semba, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, believed to be the work of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF). No one is hurt.
• 25 January – Two civilians are killed while another is injured in an improvised bomb explosion in a ricefield in Datu Piang, Maguindanao.
• 1 February – Two people are killed while four others are wounded when Abu Sayyaf bandits attack a private vehicle in Patikul, Sulu.
• 14 February – Members of the Abu Sayyaf Group abduct a government engineer in Jolo, Sulu.
• 18 February – Five soldiers, including a junior officer, are injured in a roadside bombing in Datu Unsay, Maguidanao.
• 29 April – Abu Sayyaf extremists kidnapp four people, including two policewomen in Patikul, Sulu.
• 7 May – Three Abu Sayyaf terrorists are killed and seven soldiers wounded in an encounter in Patikul, Sulu.
• 13–14 May – Eleven Abu Sayyaf terrorists and three soldiers are killed and 17 others injured in several shootouts in Patikul, Sulu.
• 10 June – The Philippine Army launched an operation against Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, led by Esmail Abdulmalik (Abu Toraife), in the southern Liguasan Marsh in the borders of Pagalungan and Gen. Salipada K. Pendatun in Maguindanao, where the group's main explosives facility and camp were destroyed by airstrikes; at least 15 BIFF members were killed, including five Indonesians and a Singaporean, 10 were injured, and a couple allegedly involved in bomb-making was captured. Eight other BIFF members were killed in succeeding military operations in Datu Unsay and Datu Hoffer Ampatuan in Maguindanao and in Midsayap, Cotabato.
• 16 June – A woman believed to be pregnant was killed while a 14-year-old boy was injured by mortar fire from members of the BIFF in General Salipada K. Pendatun, Maguindanao.
• 30 June – Militants of the BIFF detonate two bombs that rock the Barangay Hall of Timbangan, Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao. No one is injured in the incident.
• 1–4 July – Eight more members of the BIFF are killed in a series of clashes in Maguindanao.
• 31 July – A bomb exploded in a van and killed a suspected bomber, a soldier, four paramilitaries and four civilians, including a mother and her child, at a military checkpoint in Lamitan, Basilan. Twelve others are wounded.
• 28 August – Two civilians are killed and thirty-six injured by a homemade bomb during a street festival in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.
• 2 September – 2018 Isulan bombings: A bomb blast in an internet cafe in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat kills 1 and injures 15. The attack is blamed on the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
• 14 September – Clashes with the Abu Sayyaf in Patikul, Sulu result in 17 wounded from the military, while 7 Abu Sayyaf militants are killed and 6 wounded.
• 16 September – Eight people are injured including a six-year-old girl, when a bomb went off in front of a pharmacy in General Santos. The police blame the pro-ISIS faction of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters for the bombing.

2019

• January – A suicide bombing in a Catholic church in Jolo, Sulu killed 23 people including an Indonesian couple suspected to be the perpetrators of the attack. The bombing was reportedly masterminded by Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, leader of the Islamic State in the Philippines who had succeeded Isnilon Hapilon. Sawadjaan and his relatives were members of an Abu Sayyaf–Hapilon faction.
• Government roops killed a brother of Mundi Sawadjaan in an encounter in Patikul, Sulu.

2020

• 16 January – Five Indonesian fishermen were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf (ASG), reportedly with the involvement of its sub-leader Injam Yadah, in the waters off Malaysia. One of them was killed in Sulu later that year; the rest were separately rescued by the troops in Tawi-Tawi in March 2021.
• 6 July – A gunbattle between the ASG and the troops occurred in a jungle near Patikul, Sulu. The Philippine Army believed that Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, leader of the Islamic State group in the southern Philippines, was wounded and later died.
• 24 August – Two ASG militants staged suicide bombings in Jolo, Sulu, killing at least 14 people and injuring 75 more. Military officials suspected Mundi Sawadjaan, Hatib Hajan's nephew, of plotting the attacks.
• 3 November – A military offensive was launched against the ASG at the sea off Sulare Island in Parang, Sulu, resulting in the sinking of the boat used by fighters as well as the deaths of seven suspected ASG members including two brothers of Mundi Sawadjaan.
• The Armed Forces of the Philippines reported that in 2020, sixty-eight ASG members were killed and another 128 surrendered in military operations. They also reported that from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, 31 members died, 184 surrendered, and 22 were arrested; and from Maute group, 31 members died, 35 surrendered, and five were arrested.

2021

• 16 April – An encounter with government troops in Patikul, Sulu ended with an Egyptian terrorist and two Abu Sayyaf members under Mundi Sawadjaan killed.
• 23 April – A series of encounters between the military troops and an Abu Sayyaf (ASG) group under its sub-leader and bombmaker Mundi Sawadjaan in Patikul, Sulu resulted to two ASG militants being killed, including the eldest brother of Sawadjaan, who then evaded the military dragnet during a clash.
• 5 May – A gunfight occurred when more than 20 gunmen attacked soldiers patrolling in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur; one of them, a henchman of the founders of the Maute Group, was killed while three others were wounded.
• 8 May – Datu Paglas market occupation
• 13 June – A shootout ensued at the residence of ASG sub-leader Injam Yadah in Jolo, Sulu as he was to be arrested by the combined security forces. Yadah, as well as three of his followers including a brother of Mundi Sawadjaan, were killed.

2022

• 10 January – A group of construction workers were shot in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur with two of them killed. Two suspects, both alleged members of the Dawlah Islamiya–Maute Group (DI-MG), were killed in an encounter in the same town on 5 February.
• 2 February – Two DI–MG members were killed in a clash with government forces on Balabagan, Lanao del Sur.
• 6 February – Joint government forces, foiling a bombing plot, captured two DI–MG members in a pursuit operation in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur.
• 1 March – The joint military and police operation against around 40 DI–MG members was launched in Maguing, Lanao del Sur with at least three suspected terrorists and a soldier killed in an encounter.
• 25 March – Abu Sayyaf Group leader in Basilan, Radzmil Jannatul, was killed during a gunfight between ASG members and a group of Scout Rangers in Sumisip. Jannatul was the successor of Furuji Indama who was killed in late 2020.
• 27 December – Two separate gunfights between rival MILF groups occurred in Maguindanao del Sur.
  • A pre-dawn encounter began in Sultan sa Barongis when a group from the 118th Base Command attacked a sitio and fired at the houses of their enemies led by a senior member of the 105th. An ensuing firefight killed two from the former group, including the leader, and the latter's leader's relative.
  • Two armed rival clans fought in Datu Montawal, killing a gunman.

2023

• 5 February – Seven men allegedly linked to the Abu Sayyaf were killed in a pre-dawn encounter with government forces in Parang, Sulu near the boundary with Maimbung. Two companions were arrested; three were wounded.
• 18 February – Three BIFF members, including a field commander of the Karialan faction, were killed in an encounter with government forces in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat.
• 20 February – An Abu Sayyaf bandit was killed in an encounter with the military troops in Patikul, Sulu.
• 1 March – A member of the BIFF–Karialan Faction was killed in an encounter with the military in Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur.
• 22 March – The Philippine Army's 602nd Infantry Brigade launched operations against Dawlah Islamiya in the Liguasan Marsh, in the border of the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur and Cotabato, following reports in Pagalungan, Datu Montawal, and Pikit of sightings of armed men plotting to launch bombings in two provinces at the start of Ramadan. These started in a pre-dawn attack in Pagalungan against the 30-man DI–Hassan group camping in the border with Datu Montawal, followed by skirmishes; their lairs were pounded. By March 27, up to seven alleged DI members were killed in the artillery strikes; another was arrested.
• 17 April – A double-decker bus unit was bombed in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, wounding at least six passengers. The provincial police filed charges against nine Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters members. In May, the military, in their search for the suspects, launched an operation at the suspected Dawlah Islamiya's lair in Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur.
• 3 June – The military, had located in Basilan the harboring position of Dawlah Islamiyah–Abu Sayyaf Group (DI–ASG) subleader in Sulu, Mundi Sawadjaan, in their attempt to apprehend him, rescued an Indonesian teenager identified as the son of the suicide bombers behind the 2019 Jolo Cathedral bombings.
• 6 June – A focused military operation was conducted in Sumisip, Basilan against two DI and ASG subleaders in Sulu and Basilan provinces, wherein their two alleged followers were killed.
• 18 July – A clash occurred in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao del Sur as security forces was about to serve a search warrant on the lair of a BIFF leader, who was later killed along with six other members.
• 1 December – Eleven DI members, including its two ranking leaders, newly-declared chief for the Philippines Abdullah Sapal, and Nasser Guinaid Saptullah, who had succeeded Abu Turaifie as the leader of his group in Maguindanao, were killed in an offensive by the army, under Western Mindanao Command, in Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur.
• 2 December:
  • Mudzrimar "Mundi" Sawadjaan, an ASG subleader and bomb maker, was killed by security forces who had intercepted him in a military operation in the waters off Tipo-Tipo and Tuburan in Basilan, during a firefight as he was trying to escape.
  • In the third military operation within two days, a DI-Maute Group sub-leader was killed in a gun battle between five militants and army soldiers in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur. His relative was apprehended following the encounter.
• 3 December – A bomb explosion occurred during a church service in the Mindanao State University gymnasium in Marawi, Lanao del Sur, killing at least four people and injuring 50 others. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
• 7 December – The Army's 6th Infantry Division launched offensives on the suspected lairs of the DI near the Liguasan Marsh, along the Maguindanao del Sur–Cotabato provincial boundaries, after reported sightings of the Hassan sub-group militants in Datu Montawal, Pagalungan, and Pikit. The attack targeted their enclaves in the northern parts of the marshland, beginning in Pagalungan, and later near Kabacan and M'lang; two lairs were bombed. Reported casualties among DI members included ten killed and ten wounded.