‘Clashes involved warring clans, not Sayyaf’

UPI, Maguindanao — Leaders of three neighboring coastal barangays here dismissed yesterday as "unverified" the military’s claim that last week’s hostilities in their communities involved Abu Sayyaf men.

Instead, officials of Barangays Laguitan, Meti and Sedem said two feuding clans were the ones involved, one of them backed by government security forces.

Worse, according to local sources, some of them religious leaders, the two warring clans are girding for more violence, forcing hundreds of villagers to flee for fear of getting trapped in the crossfire.

Barangay officials said one of the two clans is identified with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), while the other is led by a former commander of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The military earlier said that hostilities in the three barangays stemmed from an attempt by Abu Sayyaf men, reportedly coming from Lanao del Sur or the Zamboanga peninsula, to land on the shores of the three villages.

Four Abu Sayyaf rebels were reportedly killed, while seven others were wounded in the ensuing firefight.

Local sources said the armed men who figured in running gunbattles with militiamen could be members of a local kidnap-for-ransom gang responsible for last year’s abduction in nearby Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat of a Korean treasure hunter and his Filipino business partner.

The municipal peace and order council said it will investigate the incident and peacefully resolve it to prevent villagers from fleeing.

Upi Vice Mayor Abdullah Salik said almost 200 residents have so far abandoned their homes.

He said concerned agencies are now attending to the evacuees.