By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA, the Philippines (AA) - A massive relief operation continued Wednesday for thousands of Muslim families displaced in a southern Philippine province wracked by intense fighting.
Alton Angeles, provincial government spokesperson, told Anadolu Agency that relief operations in Basilan are aimed at serving 2,311 families forced to flee three towns where government troops have been pursuing Abu Sayyaf militants since last week.
He said that a "State of Calamity" had been declared after artillery shelling and airstrikes destroyed houses, rubber trees and infrastructure projects, as the army attempted to clamp down on the Daesh-linked group.
A State of Calamity is used in the Philippines to describe “mass casualty and/or major damages to property, disruption of means of livelihoods, roads and normal way of life of people".
Angeles said Provincial Administrator Uso Dan Salasim had led an emergency relief operation Tuesday and Wednesday for around 2000 displaced families who have received foodstuff and other items.
Basilan Governor Jim Saliman told reporters the relief operation would continue until the fighting stops. He also ordered departments to prepare for the rehabilitation and recovery of internally displaced persons.
The conflict began when Abu Sayyaf militants occupied three outlying villages in Tipo-Tipo town with the intent of overrunning military outposts in the area.
To drive the attackers away, the military staged a counter operation and pursued the militants with artillery shelling and airstrikes escalating the conflict into the neighboring towns of Ungakaya Pukan and Al-Barka.
The displaced 2,311 families have combined dependents numbering 13,000, placing the total number of evacuees at 13,927.
Angeles underlined that despite the fighting, the situation remains under control.
Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf group -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent province in the Philippines.
Earlier this year, the group beheaded two Canadian hostages after ransoms failed to be paid. It has threatened to decapitate a Norwegian captured with them in September if a P300-million ($6 million) ransom demand is not met.