ARMM aids close to 4,000 families displaced by Sulu violence

• Source: http://interaksyon.com/article/132246/armm-aids-close-to-4000-families-displaced-by-sulu-violence
• Thursday, September 8, 2016 8:30 am

By Dennis Arcon (InterAksyon.com)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines -- Close to 4,000 families from five towns in Sulu who have been displaced by the ongoing campaign against the Abu Sayyaf have been given relief by the Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The ARMM HEART said a total of 3,985 families are staying in evacuation centers or with relatives.

Aside from relief packs, the evacuees were also given medical attention, ARMM HEART said.

The military has deployed thousands of troops to Sulu for the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf on orders of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte has placed the country under a “state of national emergency on account of lawless violence” following last Friday’s bomb blast in Davao City that killed 14 persons and wounded dozens of others.

Aside from the bombing, the declaration cited the ongoing offensive against the Abu Sayyaf and the beheading by the extremists of hostages.