Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala, commanding officer of the Army’s 301st Infantry Brigade, said the raid, carried out by members of the 2nd Special Forces Battalion, was in response to information provided by Muslim religious leaders on the presence of a band of armed men in Barangay Lumabao, S.K. Pendatun.
Dema-ala said the group, led by Saidali Mamalangkay, alias Commander Vanguard, opened fire on the approaching soldiers, provoking a firefight that waned only after the gunmen ran out of ammunition.
The armed men retreated toward the Liguasan Marsh, dragging at least four wounded companions.
Local leaders said Mamalangkay is a son of Kagui Bayan, a brigade commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and whose followers are scattered at the boundary of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat.
Killed in the firefight was a certain Saban, who was implicated in cattle-rustlings in the adjoining towns of S.K. Pendatun, Buluan and Datu Paglas, all in the second district of Maguindanao.
Dema-ala said Mamalangkay’s group left three assault rifles, a live fragmentation grenade, a live shoulder-fired rifle grenade, live B-40 anti-tank rockets, and a list of traders in the region and their respective addresses. — With Roel Pareño