Family of 3 slain in gun attack in Maguindanao
Mindanao Armed Conflict • 11:15 AM Tue Aug 2, 2022
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By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
Mamasapano police officers and Army troopers conduct checkpoint operation following the massacre of 3 Tuesday. (Mamasapano MPS)
A family of three was massacred Tuesday dawn by still unidentified gunmen in the volatile town of Mamasapano.
Major Maximiano Gerodias, Mamasapano town police chief, said undetermined number of armed men arrived at past midnight today (Aug. 2) and strafed the house of Abdulkadir Matuwa, 53, farmer in Sitio Pamalian, Barangay Mangungkaling.
The strafing left Abdulkadir, his wife Zahera, 32 and their 5-year-old daughter Nhala all dead.
A 9-month-old baby was miraculously unharmed.
“The baby was in a hammock and was asleep when the carnage happened,” Maj. Gerodias told DXMS Radio.
Police recovered undetermined number of empty shells for Armalite rifle.
Motive of the attack and who were behind it remained unknown as, Maj. Gerodias said, investigation was still on-going as of posting.
The baby is now with the victims’ relatives.
Mamasapano was the site of the bloody encounter in January 2015 between PNP Special Action Forces and combined forces of Moro rebels that left 44 SAF personnel, 18 Moro gunmen and civilians killed.