Soldier killed, 7 others wounded in Lanao del Norte

ILIGAN CITY, Philippines – A soldier was killed while seven others were wounded when ambushed by still unidentified armed men along the national highway in Pantar town in Lanao del Norte on Monday morning.

Col. Gilbert Gapay, chief of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade based in Ditucalan here, said the soldiers were on their way to Pantar for a rotational patrol when ambushed in Barangay Calanganan at 7:40 a.m..

Gapay said the government troops were able to return fire, wounding two of the armed men, who were able to escape.

The wounded troops were brought to nearby hospitals in Iligan City for treatment.

Gapay said the armed men, now being hunted down, withdrew to the interior part of Pantar.

The national highway was closed from traffic for an hour.

Gapay said they were looking at three possible motives: the retaliation to the military’s operations against a kidnap-for-ransom group; the recent arrest of eight Moro rebels in Marawi City; and the brewing political feud in Pantar.