COTABATO CITY — A leader of an armed group was killed, and a villager was wounded in a spate of clashes in three seaside villages in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao del Norte on Tuesday.
He died from multiple bullet wounds in an encounter with a rival group in a secluded area in Sitio Lidepan in Kusiong village, village leaders police told reporters. His companions left his body as they fled from the gunfight.
Both groups, armed with M14 and M16 assault rifles and 40-millimeter grenade launchers, clashed in the villages of Mompong and Linek, forcing hundreds of innocent Moro and ethnic Teduray villagers to flee.
A resident of Sitio Lasdan in Linek was wounded in the crossfire. — John Felix M. Unson
