DAVAO CITY, Philippines – A barangay councilman was killed and another civilian was wounded in a gun attack in an evacuation center in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao on Thursday, August 9, a military officer said.
Col Prudencio Asto, spokesman of the military’s 6th Infantry Division, said that a pair of unidentified armed men riding in motorcycles indiscriminately fired on the evacuation center in Barangay Labo-labo at around 2 p.m Thursday.
The casualty was identified as Barangay Cacal, Ampatuan village councilman Banal Vida Santo while the wounded was identified as Sittie Sambungan.
Asto said that a company from the 1st Mechanized Brigade was immediately deployed to pursue the suspects.
There are currently more than 24,755 internally displaced civilians in Maguindanao as a result of the ongoing gun battle between government forces and members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
The fighting began when BIFF gunmen attacked 11 towns in Maguindanao on Sunday in retaliation for the death of a BIFF member and attacks against their Muslim brothers in Basilan.
The BIFF is a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is engaged in peace talks with the Philippine government.
The splinter group is headed by renegade ex-MILF commander Ameril Umra Kato. – Rappler.com
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