Villager dead, 2 hurt in North Cotabato gun attack

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — A villager was killed while two others were seriously wounded when suspected members of a local terrorist group shot with assault rifles four houses in Pikit town in North Cotabato late Thursday.

In a statement Friday, the Pikit Municipal Police Station identified the fatality as Gilbert Roa, who died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds.

Roa was inside one of four adjoining houses in Sitio Saguing in Barangay Ginatilan in Pikit, North Cotabato that unidentified men shot with M16 and M14 assault rifles.

Two neighbors of Roa, Eleonor Umutong ang Kho Enok, were seriously wounded in the attack.

Residents of Barangay Ginatilan had told responding police probers that there are indications that the gunmen belong to either the Dawlah Islamiya or the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Both terrorist groups are operating in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Brig. Gen. Alexander Tagum, director of the Police Regional Office-12, said he has directed the Pikit municipal police force to enlist the help of local officials in identifying the people behind the attack for prosecution.