COTABATO CITY, Philippines – A leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and a village official were killed in an attack in Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao Wednesday.
Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said village chairman Saddam Mohammad and his father, MILF commander Batuh, were on a motorcycle when gunmen waylaid them.
The victims died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.
Hermoso said the gunmen were led by another MILF commander, Kagui Said, whose family figured in a long-running clan war with the Mohammads.
The military yesterday sent a peacekeeping team to the area to prevent a breakout of hostilities between the two families.
Local officials have sent emissaries to the Mohammad family to convince them to refrain from retaliating.
Lt. Col. Markton Abo, commander of the 33rd IB, has asked the government-MILF ceasefire committee to help resolve the conflict.