Breakaway Muslim rebels kill nine people in southern Philippines

A breakaway Muslim rebel group killed nine civilians in the southern Philippines in a series of attacks on Christmas eve, officials said Saturday, in a reminder that the region remains volatile despite recent gains in the peace process. Army troops killed four members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a faction opposed to a peace deal between government and the mainstream Muslim rebel group, after they attacked a farming town in Sultan Kudarat province on the southern island of Mindanao. In March 2014, the Philippines signed a peace deal with the main Muslim rebels granting the minority Moro people autonomy in exchange for dismantling the 11,000-strong guerrilla army and turning over their weapons, ending a 45-year conflict that killed 120,000 people and displaced 2 million.

…