2 MNLF members killed in Maguindanao ambush

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Two senior members of the Moro National Liberation Front were killed in an ambush Tuesday in Guindulungan town in Maguindanao.

Omar Bandali, also known in the MNLF as Commander Barracuda, 57 and his aide, Bogel Sabandal, 33, died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds.

Gunmen shot their vehicle with M16 assault rifles while passing by a secluded stretch of the Cotabato-Isulan Highway in Barangay Tambunan in Guindulungan.

Bandali and Sabandal were killed on the spot, according to the Guindulungan municipal police.

Their companion, 43-year-old Saniya Bandali, was badly wounded in the attack, now confined in a hospital.

Chief Superintendent Graciano Mijares of the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said Wednesday local police investigators are still trying to identify the culprits and their real motive for the ambush.

Mijares said the Guindulungan municipal police will immediately initiate the filing of criminal cases against them once identified.

Top leaders of the MNLF in central Mindanao have condemned the atrocity, urging for its speedy resolution.

The MNLF forged a peace deal with the government on Sept. 2, 1996 after waging a secessionist uprising in the south for about three decades.

While the compact ushered in the reintegration of decommissioned MNLF members into mainstream society, the group continued to exist as communities of former guerillas thriving in government-recognized enclaves called “peace zones.”