Police investigators identified the slain cattle rustlers as Ali and Makaraban, both identified with a criminal band operating in the hinterland surroundings of Camp Abubakar, a former guerrilla bastion and now a "peace zone" guarded by a brigade-size Army contingent.
The hostilities in Karuyusan, a hinterland community in Barira, erupted when the cattle-rustlers opened fire on members of a town militia patrolling the area.
Although outnumbered, the militiamen managed to return fire, killing Ali and Makaraban.
Three militiamen — Tamano Uga, Nasser Solaiman and Kambela Anggulin — were wounded in the ensuing firefight and are now recuperating at the Cotabato Regional Medical Center (CRMC) here.
Two villagers, who were trapped in the crossfire and hit, were also rushed to the CRMC for treatment.
Local officials in Barira said Ali and Makaraban were both implicated in the massacre of five people, one of them a public school teacher, in Barangay Ruminimban early this month.