Soldier killed, seven hurt in Lanao Norte ambush

COTABATO CITY -- Unidentified gunmen killed a soldier and wounded seven others in an ambush Monday morning in Pantar municipality in Lanao del Norte, military and police sources said.The incident forced local authorities to stop the flow of traffic on a highway traversing the scene while the ambushers and the soldiers traded shots for an hour.The slain soldier and the seven other wounded Army combatants belong to the 42ndCompany of the 4thMechanized Battalion, according to the Pantar municipal police office.The victims were on board a military truck en route to the town proper of Pantar for a security mission when they were attacked in Barangay Calanganan, sparking exchanges of gunfire.Responding policemen and soldiers rushed the wounded soldiers to a hospital in Iligan City.Brig. Gen. Carlito Galvez, chair of the government’s ceasefire committee dealing with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, said they have sent a team to Pantar to investigate on the incident.Galvez said police and military investigators should be given enough time to gather information on the identities of the ambushers and the motive for the attack. Meantime let’s avoid speculating. Our men are now in the ground investigating on the incident with the help of the MILF’s ceasefire committee,” Galvez said.