Mindanao-On the knife's edge: paramilitary- CAFGU

CAFGU is irregular auxilary force of the Armed Forces of Philippines (AFP). It was created in 1987 when the Filippino government provided them with weapons to prevent the re-infiltration of insurgents into communities that have already been cleared. By 2007 there were estimated to be some 60,000 CAFGU members active. Number still remains high despite allegations of human rights abuses commited by CAFGU. In the Philippines 73 private armies operate in the country with more than one million illegal high-powered firearms.Out of 73 private armies some 42 partisan armed groups (PAG) are in Mindanao, with nine under the control of the Ampatuans, the most powerful clan in Mindanao who’s patriarch has been indicted for Maguindanao massacre in November 2009, numbering to about 2,410-armed men.