6 Pentagon men killed in clashes

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — Six Pentagon kidnap gang members have been killed in separate clashes with government troops in Central Mindanao since Sunday.

The encounters also left four militiamen dead and three soldiers wounded.

The first encounter took place in Barangay Lamba in Banga, South Cotabato, which resulted in the death of suspected Pentagon member Ali Midtamak.

Army Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said elements of the 27th Infantry Battalion were verifying the reported presence of armed men in Lamba when they were fired upon. Two soldiers, Privates Melvin Gallardo and Ramel Aplejido, were wounded in the ensuing firefight.

Local officials said the Pentagon men fled toward a known enclave of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, bringing at least five of their wounded companions.

The Banga firefight was followed by a two-hour running gunbattle yesterday between members of the Army’s 2nd Special Forces Battalion and Pentagon members in Barangay Midpandakan in Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao.

The clash left five kidnappers, three of them said to be cousins of Tahir Alonto, now the group’s chieftain, and five militiamen dead, and a soldier, Pvt. Glen Orillosa, wounded. — John Unson