KIDAPAWAN CITY—An ambush that killed a 16-year-old boy and wounded a village chair on Monday triggered an evacuation in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato as villagers feared more violence that could jeopardize their safety, the police said.
Chief Insp. Arnel Melocotones, Pigcawayan police, said the fear of the villagers of Barangay (village) Buricain increased when followers of village chair Abdulsalam Maracuar—who survived the ambush on Monday—clashed with the suspects, said to be under Commander Arfe of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s 105th Base Command.
Maracuar was still being treated in a hospital but his nephew, identified as John Paul, had died in the ambush.
Melocotones said the exact figure of the displaced families could not be ascertained yet because authorities were having a difficult time penetrating the interior of the village due to the presence of hostile forces.
“It’s purely family feud,” Melocotones told reporters when asked about the ambush.
North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Talino-Mendoza said she has sent negotiators to help resolve the conflict and to prevent it from escalating in the nearby villages. RAM
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