CAMP S.K. PENDATUN, Maguindanao -- Police are hunting down members of an armed group who waylaid and killed a ranking official of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and his aide and wounded his wife in Guindulungan, Maguindanao Tuesday afternoon.
Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares, police director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), identified those killed as Omar Bandali, 57, alias “MNLF Commander Barracuda,” and his aide, Bogel Sabandal, 33. Bandali’s wife, Saniya, 43, sustained injuries in the body.
Both Bandali and Sabandal died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds during the 1:30 p.m. ambush in Barangay Kalumamis, Guindulungan, Maguindanao.
“Responding residents and village officials rushed the wife to a hospital in Maguindanao and eventually in Cotabato City,” Mijares said.
Citing police reports from Guindulungan municipal police, Mijares said the victims were on board an Isuzu pick-up vehicle (LCJ-474) heading for home when gunmen on both sides of the road opened fire on them.
Police probers are eyeing personal grudge as the motive behind the attack.
In a statement, the MNLF, a rebel movement that forged a peace deal with the government in 1996, has vowed to help authorities in solving the double murder. (PNA)
