COTABATO CITY — Close to 5,000 families were displaced due to fresh fighting between government troops and gunmen belonging to the Islamic State-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), regional authorities said.
An assessment report from the Ministry of Social Services and Development of the Bangsamoro autonomous region counted 4,264 affected families as of Friday, most of whom are temporarily sheltered in 10 evacuation centers set up across five towns.
A few families stayed with relatives.
The MSSD said they are expecting the evacuees to top 5,000 families or as many as 25,000 people, as more were still flocking into evacuation centers on Friday and were still to b…
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