Last Friday, an Army corporal and six bandits died in an encounter between Army Special Forces and the gang of Saidali Mamalangkay, alias Commander Vanguard in Barangay Langapanan.
Military intelligence said Mamalangkay has been implicated in the kidnapping of five Chinese and their Filipino interpreter in North Cotabato last year.
Army Maj. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the sporadic fighting in Sultan sa Barongis escalated last Sunday after some 200 MILF rebels opened fire on troops who were pursuing Mamalangkay and his gang.
Reports said Cpl. Dionisio Andio, who belonged to the Army’s Second Special Forces Battalion, and his platoon were advancing toward a secluded farm in Barangay Langapanan to check on the presence of armed men when Mamalangkay’s gang attacked them.
Local officials said attack helicopters and bombers pounded advancing MILF forces led by Jerry Solaiman, Kagui Abdulbayan and Ustadz Salipah.
The Maguindanao provincial peace and order council, which has been monitoring the fighting round-the-clock, identified the six slain rebels only as Karim, Salik, Bedu, Guiday, Alaw and Salipudin.
Norie Unas, Maguindanao provincial administrator, said Gov. Andal Ampatuan has sent more than a dozen relief workers to Barangay Langapanan to find out if the fighting has displaced civilians.
Army Special Forces stopped MILF rebels yesterday from taking over three barangays at the border of Sultan sa Barongis and S.K. Pendatun in Maguindanao.
Ando said the rebels could be creating a diversion to ease the military pressure on Mamalangkay and his gang and the MILF reinforcements from Barangay Langapanan.