COTABATO CITY — A soldier was killed while eight others, among them a policeman, were wounded in an ambush by unidentified gunmen in Ungkaya Pukan town in Basilan province in southern Philippines on Saturday.
The victims were on their way to a secluded area in the village of Ulitan to inform community leaders about their civil-military project in the area, when gunmen opened fire, sparking a gunfight.
Brigadier General Allan C. Nobleza, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region here said a member of the 64th Infantry Battalion under the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade died.
Seven other members of the battalion were hurt in the gunfight.
In a report, Captain Jakaria J. Muin, Ungkaya Pukan police chief, said officials of the 64th Infantry Battalion coordinated with the senior commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the municipality, Huram D. Malangka, about Saturday’s event with village leaders.
Investigators had yet to identify the gunmen. — John Felix M. Unson
