PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday warned civil war could erupt in Mindanao if Christians started taking up arms against Islamist fighters, but said the government would prevent such armed confrontation from happening.

In remarks during a visit to wounded soldiers at the Camp Evangelista Station Hospital in Cagayan de Oro City, Duterte said he feared that Christians in Mindanao might take matters into their own hands amid the spread of Islamic State (IS)-linked terrorists under the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups.

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