Zambo vice mayor, 5 others slain in ambush

DINAS, Zamboanga del Sur — Suspected Muslin insurgents shot dead Dinas Vice Mayor Abdulbasit Maulana and his five bodyguards in an ambush on Sunday afternoon in a coastal village of Tarakan, some 60 kilometers southwest of Pagadian City.

Two others were also seriously wounded.

Major General Gabriel Habacon, Commanding Officer of Army’s 1st Infantry Division identified the slain bodyguards as Nasser Maulana, Nasser Lumabo, Udok Punde, Jamail Abbas and Lombang Ibrahim while the two who were wounded were Ukol Yusop and Uyok Pua.

The gunmen were believed to be followers of Camad Lao, a local commander of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), but Sunday’s attack was believed to have been motivated by a political rivalry between Maulana and Lao’s brother, Satuk Lao, a defeated mayoral candidate, said Habacon.

In another report, Lao allegedly took revenge for his slain brother, Rumano, who was alledgedly killed by Maulana’s security guards early this year.

Military and police sources said the slain vice mayor and his bodyguards were responding to a report that private fishpen was destroyed.

Maulana rushed to the area only to find out that it’s a false report meant to trap him.The bodyguards were reportedly able to exchange fire with the suspects for 25 minutes.

About three hours after the ambush, armed men shot dead Pungat Pangansayan, a local trader affiliated with Satuk Lao, according to provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Karid Muamil.

Police are now investigating if the trader’s murder is linked to the murder of Maulana.

Political rivalries among Muslim clans in the south often result in violence with the armed followers of these groups engaging in gunbattles to settle scores. — With AFP