5 killed in gun attacks across BARMM towns in 36 hours

COTABATO CITY — Gunmen killed a barangay councilor and four others in separate attacks across the adjoining provinces of Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte, as well as the Bangsamoro region's Special Geographic Area (SGA) within a span of just 36 hours.

Tricycle driver Hashim Buyogan Hadji Esmael, died instantly from gunshot wounds sustained in an attack on Monday morning, October 26, in Barangay Dicalungan, Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur.

 Officials of the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police Office separately told reporters that witnesses saw one of two men riding a motorcycle shoot Esmael in the head as they approached his tricycle before speeding away.

Two of the five fatalities in the separate attacks between Saturday and early Monday, Munsari Abpi and Usop Ugod, were riding together on a motorcycle when gunmen ambushed them on a highway in Barangay Iganagampong, Datu Unsay, Maguindanao del Sur, on Sunday night, October 25. Both died instantly.

Capt. Steffie Salanguit, spokesperson for the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, separately told reporters on Monday that the assailants fled immediately after the attack, leaving Abpi and Ugod lifeless beside the concrete road.

Two armed men shot dead barangay councilor Saddam Barra on Saturday morning in front of his roadside store in Barangay Macabiso, Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao del Norte.

The assailants of Bara, a member of the barangay council in Macabiso, escaped on a getaway motorcycle amid the commotion triggered by the gunshots that reverberated through the scene.

Gunmen aboard a minivan also shot dead motorcycle rider Alex Talungon with pistols on Saturday in Nabalawag, a town in the Bangsamoro SGA. Nabalawag is one of the eight towns in the Bangsamoro SGA, which was created just two years ago. All eight towns are under the autonomous regional government but are located within Cotabato province in Region 12. 

Talungon was on his way to the town center of Nabalawag when he was attacked from behind by armed men aboard a minivan along a secluded stretch of highway in Barangay Nabalawag Nabalawag municipality. He died instantly from multiple gunshot wounds, according to local executives and officials of the Nabalawang Municipal Police Station.