5 arrested in Maguindanao del Sur gun attacks

COTABATO CITY — Soldiers have apprehended five gunmen linked to at least ten deadly shootings in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur, over the past few weeks.

Major Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said on Friday, June 13, that the five suspects were in a silver minivan when they were intercepted by personnel of the 90th Infantry Battalion in the town proper of Shariff Aguak on Thursday, June 12.

Patrolling combatants of the 90th IB flagged them down when they noticed their vehicle suspiciously roaming around the center of Shariff Aguak, looking around through its windows. 

Six members of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team in Shariff Aguak, along with four villagers, have been killed in a series of attacks over the past seven weeks. The assailants, armed with assault rifles, were seen riding silver and white minivans.

The soldiers who blocked the route of the five men found a 5.56 military-type M4 combat rifle, ammunition and drug sniffing paraphernalia in their vehicle.

Local officials said the five men belong to a group that perpetrated the recent gun attacks in Shariff Aguak that left at least ten individuals dead, six of them on-duty volunteer community watchmen.

Gumiran said he has directed the commanding officer of the 90th ID, Lt. Col. Loqui Marco, to turn over the five men to officials of the Shariff Aguak Municipal Police Station for them to be properly prosecuted in court