Six wounded in Cotabato daylight ambush

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — Suspected secessionists rebels ambushed and seriously wounded six people in a broad daylight attack on a secluded stretch of the Tacurong-General Santos highway in Tantangan, South Cotabato yesterday.

The Army’s 301st Brigade, in a radio report to the command headquarters here of the 6th Infantry Division, identified three of the victims as Pastor Tangora,Toh Guimaludin Simpal — both employees of the Cotabato City State Polytechnic College — and Meriam Kawit, a public school teacher in Maguindanao.

Tangora and Simpal were reportedly on their way to General Santos City on board a school service vehicle when the gunmen, positioned on one side of the highway in Barangay Nagan in Tantangan, South Cotabato, opened fire at the vehicle, wounding them both in different parts of the body.

The suspects also opened fire on an approaching passenger vehicle from the opposite end of the highway, wounding Kawit and three other still unidentified commuters.

Major Gen. Generoso Senga, commander of the 6th ID, said soldiers are now scouring the surroundings of the ambush scene to determine the whereabouts of the gunmen, mostly clad in combat fatigues and armed with assault rifles.