2 MNLF members dead in encounter with MILF forces
BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES • 08:30 AM Mon Feb 21, 2022
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By:
John M. Unson
PIKIT, North Cotabato --- Two members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) were killed in a clash with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members here Friday.
The two groups are locked in territorial disputes, according to local officials and the municipal police, now scrambling to disengage the rival groups, armed with assault rifles and 40 millimeter grenade launchers.
Two from the MNLF were killed on the spot in a two-hour running gunfight on Friday with enemies belonging to the MILF in Sitio Buguak in Barangay Kalakakan here.
The municipal police and the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade that has jurisdiction over Pikit and nearby towns in North Cotabato have separately confirmed the incident.
The MILF group is led by Gampong Olimpain of the MILF’s 105th Base Command, whose clan is locked in a bloody “rido,” or clan war, with leaders of the MNLF in Pikit’s adjoining Barangays Kalakakan and Balatikan.
The encounter forced dozens of families to relocate to safe areas, according to barangay officials and traditional Moro elders in the municipality.
Pikit Mayor Sumulong Sultan, chairperson of the municipal peace and order council, has sent emissaries to convince both sides to reposition away from Barangay Kalakakan to pave the way for the settlement of the conflict by the local government unit.
He told reporters he will seek the help of top MNLF and MILF leaders to help address the problem.