Civilian fighter killed, four wounded in Maguindanao

October 14, 2020

A civilian fighter was killed while four others were wounded in a clash between former and present members of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Monday.

Lt. Col. Alaric Avelino Delos Santos, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Mindanao Command spokesman, said the armed confrontation  between the group of Salik Kiko and Ben Tikaw happened at the vicinity of Barangay Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

"The six hours of intermittent fire resulted in the death of a certain Alimudin, a member of Kiko’s group," he said.

"Three members of the group were wounded during the incident while one member from their adversary was also injured," he added.

Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, Jr., WestMinCom Commander, said "according to the report, Salik Kiko is a delisted member of the 118th Base Command of the MILF while Ben Tikaw is a member of the 105th Base Command."

“We are still waiting for the results of the investigation as to why these two groups clashed,” he added.

Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, JTF Central Commander, said the military "immediately deployed personnel from the 33rd Infantry Battalion in coordination with the local officials and the PNP to monitor the situation."

“We also established checkpoints along the provincial roads to preempt spill over to populated areas,” Uy added.  Robina Asido/DMS