Maguindanao governor survives ambush

COTABATO CITY — Some 30 suspected Muslim rebels armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) ambushed yesterday the governor of Maguindanao in a daring attack that left four people dead, more than a dozen wounded, and triggered a conflagration that destroyed 25 houses.

Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan survived the attack with only bruises and superficial shrapnel wounds in different parts of his body. Four of his bodyguards were also slightly wounded in the initial volley of fire but they managed to fight back their ambushers.

Ampatuan and his security escorts were on board five vehicles on their way to this city from the provincial capitol in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao when they were ambushed.

The ambushers, positioned on both sides of the highway in Barangay Salimbao, Sultan Kudarat, opened fire with RPGs, shoulder-borne M79 projectiles and machineguns.

Ampatuan’s vehicle, a Ford F-150 pickup, was crippled in the initial rocket fire. His escorts managed to drag him out of the vehicle before it caught fire and exploded.

The ambushers also opened fire on responding soldiers, triggering a running gunbattle. Two women were killed while several others, two of them school children, were wounded in the ensuing crossfire.

Maguindanao Vice Gov. Datu Bimbo Sinsuat appealed to Ampatuan’s supporters to remain calm as authorities investigate the ambush.

"Let us be sober and allow the investigation to go on," he said.

Sinsuat, however, expressed belief that the ambush was politically motivated. It was the second attack on the governor since the start of the year, the first occuring during the campaign season for last May’s elections.

The gunmen were wearing ski masks and engaged responding soldiers in an hour of gunbattle before fleeing through a nearby river.

During the exchange of gunfires, an RPG hit a local store selling liquified petroleum gas, causing the place to explode and triggering a fire that razed more than two dozen houses. The fire gutted electric cables, leaving the entire city in complete darkness.

Two elderly women died in the conflagration, the police said.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 families lost their homes in a three-hour fire that hit Butuan City yesterday morning.

The fire started at around 8 a.m. and was controlled only after firemen from four towns came to help. Arson investigators are still probing its cause. — With Ben Serrano