Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Renegade MILF commander killed in shootout with Maguindanao cops

By Ronron
September 24, 2007

A suspected renegade commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) was killed in a shootout Sunday against Maguindanao policemen.

The incident, which happened at around 8am at Barangay Kitango, Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, also left the chief of police of said town slightly wounded, said Supt. Danilo Bacas, Operations and Plans Division chief of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Police.

Bacas said the five-man party led by Datu Saudi Ampatuan Police chief SPO4 Adam Maliga was aboard a police car when they were ambushed by armed men led by a certain Commander Hadji Ali.

Bacas said Ali is a known commander of the MILF Lost Command who allegedly has a rift with the family of Maliga.

“It’s a personal motive. We heard there is a family feud between Maliga and Ali, so we can say that Maliga is really the target,” Bacas said in Filipino when reached by phone.

Bacas said the group of Ali first fired at the party of Maliga using an M79 grenade launcher. The group of Maliga fired back, resulting in the death of Ali and the withdrawal of his followers.

Family feud, locally called as “rido,” usually ends up in violent incidents in Moslem communities in the country./DMS

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