Military vows to deal with new lawless group in Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The Philippine government said Thursday that the security forces are ready to crack down on a new armed group that has emerged in Mindanao.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the Armed Forces of the Philippines have been monitoring various armed groups.

He said the military would not allow them to sow fear and chaos among the people.

The army said on Wednesday that a new group called Justice for Islamic Movement (JIM), headed by Mohamed Ali Tambako, was harboring bomb maker Basit Usman, one of the two targets of an operation in the southern Maguindanao province on Jan. 25 that left 44 police commandos dead.

Usman managed to escape while Malaysian Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, was killed during the operation.

JIM was allegedly a splinter group of the lawless group, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a breakaway of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Muslim rebel group in the country, which has been engaged in a peace process with the Philippine government.