Monitor flags Lanao del Norte ambush as sign of extremist resurgence

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Independent monitoring group Climate Conflict Action Asia (CCAA) warned again of a resurgence of violent extremism in Mindanao following an ambush in Lanao del Norte that killed four soldiers, contradicting military claims that militant groups in the area had been largely neutralized.

CCAA said the January 23 attack in Barangay Lininding, Munai town, allegedly carried out by remnants of Dawlah Islamiyah (DI), was another indication of a renewed recruitment and growing operational capacity among extremist groups in the region. 

The non-profit organization issued the warning on Saturday, January 24, a day before another armed group launched a daring daylight attack on Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur Mayor Akmad Ampatuan and his party, using a rocket-propelled grenade.

Ampatuan, a witness in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre case, and his companions survived. Three suspects were killed hours later in Datu Unsay town, Maguindanao del Sur.

The motive for the ambush remained unclear as of posting time, but international monitors had previously warned that delays in the first regular parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro and local political dynamics could fuel further violence in the predominantly Muslim region.

CCAA said data it collated showed a 91% increase in violent extremist incidents, rising to 44 cases in 2025 from 23 a year earlier. These, it said, included deadly clashes with security forces that left at least 30 people dead, arrests of DI-linked financiers and drug dealers, and the recovery of high-powered firearms and improvised explosive devices.

“This resurgence comes at a particularly critical and vulnerable moment,” CCAA communications manager Louise Marie Lara said, citing the upcoming BARMM parliamentary elections and national polls scheduled for 2028. She warned that renewed violence could destabilize the Bangsamoro peace process.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said the perpetrators of the Munai ambush in Lanao del Norte were members of DI, a group it has previously described as a “spent force” following years of military operations after the 2017 Marawi siege.

On Saturday, AFP Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner Jr. told reporters in Iligan City that security forces were pursuing those behind the attack.

Abdullah Macapaar, also known as Commander Bravo, a senior leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and a member of the Bangsamoro parliament, condemned the ambush, calling it “downright haram,” or forbidden under Islamic law.

In a statement, Macapaar said the soldiers killed were not engaged in combat operations and offered his “utmost sympathy” to the victims’ families. He said the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces units under his command in northwestern Mindanao would assist the military in tracking down the attackers.

“The ambush is highly condemnable,” Macapaar said.

Macapaar also urged the public to recognize the continued commitment of both the MILF and the government to the peace process and to ensuring justice for the slain soldiers.

The MILF and the government signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro in 2014, ending decades of armed conflict in the south and paving the way for the creation of the autonomous region.

CCAA said it had tracked persistent recruitment by extremist groups over the past two years, with reports from police, media and communities pointing to renewed activity in the Lanao and Maguindanao corridors, including areas previously declared free of Islamic State-linked groups.

Lara cited a November 15, 2025 clash in Pagayawan, Lanao del Sur that killed a DI leader known as Abu Jihad and his wife, as well as reports linking perpetrators of a December 2025 attack in Australia to a prior visit to Davao City, as indicators of a broader regional threat.

While urging caution against conclusions that could inflame religious or identity-based tensions, CCAA said the Munai attack showed that extremist recruitment and training were ongoing and that militant groups were again capable of engaging government forces.

The group called for closer cooperation between government and civil society, expanded monitoring of extremist hotspots, and reintegration and community support programs aimed at addressing the root causes of radicalization. – Rappler.com