Families displaced by conflict in Sulu get relief goods

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Hundreds of families displaced by hostilities between the military and the Abu Sayyaf benefited from an outreach mission of the Bangsamoro government on Saturday in Patikul, Sulu.

Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) led the distribution of relief goods to evacuees from the outskirts of Patikul.

Sulu is the main bastion of the Abu Sayyaf, which has a reputation for beheading captives if ransom demands are not met and for bombing non-military targets, including worship sites, to avenge losses in encounters with the Armed Forces.

The distribution on Saturday of food supplies and other relief provisions for the evacuees from interior barangays in Patikul was facilitated by BARMM’s Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence, the Bangsamoro government's conflict and calamity response unit.

The outreach mission was assisted by the Bangsamoro Regional Police and the military's Western Mindanao Command.