MNLF exec, aide gunned down in North Cotabato

MIDSAYAP, NORTH COTABATO – A ranking official of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and his aide were killed by still unidentified gunmen along the national highway here Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Datu Lumambong Mananimbong, division commander of the MNLF for Central Mindanao region and his aide, Bert Aran, both residents of Carmen town, North Cotabato province, were killed in an attack here on Tuesday, Supt. Bernard Tayong, speaking for North Cotabato police office, said.

Tayong said Mananimbong, 66, was in front of the Hall of Justice, in Barangay Sadaan, when two men riding tandem on motorbike arrived and shot him at close range.

Aran, who was standing beside the MNLF official, was also injured. The gunmen quickly fled on board the same motorbike toward the nearby town of Aleosan, North Cotabato.

Responding police and soldiers rushed the victims to a hospital in Midsayap town proper but were pronounced dead on arrival by attending physicians.

It was not clear if Mananimbong was armed or has armed escorts.

He was a member of the MNLF under the Nur Misuari faction. The rebel group forged a peace deal with Manila in 1996.