4 killed in clash between rival political groups in Maguindanao
KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato – Four persons were killed in a shootout early Wednesday between two groups supporting rival candidates in next Monday’s barangay (village) elections in Maguindanao, the military reported.
Captain Tony Bulao, spokesman for the 602nd Infantry Brigade, said the 2 a.m. clash in Barangay Bagoinged in Pagalungan, Maguindanao, sent about 400 families fleeing for their safety.
Bulao identified the slain men only as Nasrulah, Aladdin, Datukan and Mamatanto, all belonging to a group led by two men he claimed were commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front whom he identified only as Bhuto and Bigkog.
According to Bulao, commanders Bhuto and Bigkog and their men surrounded Barangay Bagoinged at about 2 a.m. and fired on a number of houses while demanding that Mokamad Andoy, a former head of the village who is now running for the same position, show himself.
It was the second time that gunmen led by Bhuto and Bigkog swooped down on Bagoinged in search of Andoy, who is running for chairmanship of the village against a politician identified with the two MILF commanders.
Last Thursday, the same group fired on houses in Bagoinged as they looked for Andoy. Another group did the same thing on the same day in Barangay Kudal.
Bulao said Andoy’s family was locked in a long-standing feud with relatives of Bhuto and Bigkog.
But unlike last week, Andoy was in Bagoinged on Wednesday. His followers engaged the intruders in a battle that left four followers of Bigkog and Bhuto dead, Bulao said. No casualties were reported on Andoy’s side.
Bulao said the attackers fled toward the swampy border between Pagalungan and the town of Pikit in North Cotabato.
Senior Superintendent Rodelio Jocson, Maguindanao police director, said the Bagoinged and Kudal incidents showed that the elections in the two villages would be hotly contested.
He said he has ordered the Pagalungan police to deploy additional peacekeepers to the two villages ensure that Monday’s balloting will push through without much problem.
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