Ex-mayor in Maguindanao taken to Davao City hospital after blast

COTABATO CITY – Datu Ali Midtimbang, former mayor of Datu Anggal (not Talayan as earlier reported) in Maguindanao was airlifted on Friday to an undisclosed hospital in Davao City following a grenade blast outside a mosque in Talayan that injured him and seven others.

Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) chartered the helicopter that flew the 62-year old Midtimbang.

Midtimbang and his son, Datu Anggal Mayor Nathaniel Midtimbang, were on their way home after attending Friday’s prayer at the Golden Mosque in Talayan when unidentified men aboard a Toyota Innova lobbed a grenade at their vehicle, according to Capt. Arvin John Encinas, who was speaking for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

Encinas said the suspects, whom authorities immediately pursued and engaged in a firefight with, remained unidentified.

The other wounded victims were their security escorts Kasim, Tho Marcos, Tho Macalangga, Datu Anong Mupak, Sandi Aron, and Manap Balumol.

They had several wounds caused by shrapnel and were rushed to a private hospital in Cotabato City.

The Maguindanao Provincial Police Office said another grenade was lobbed at about 12:45 a.m. by men on a motorbike after the first blast, but it did not explode.

The motive behind the attack remained unknown as of this posting. /atm