1 dead in clash with Ampatuan militia

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao, Philippines – A wanted member of the disbanded civilian volunteer organization (CVO) in this province was killed while several others were wounded when the former government militiamen and soldiers clashed in Ampatuan town Tuesday, the Army said.

Col. Prudencio Asto, speaking for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the armed group, believed to be followers of former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., figured in a three-hour running gun battle with elements of the 46th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Malatomon, Ampatuan town.

He said the armed men who wore fatigue uniforms were under the command of Datu Ulo Ampatuan, one of the grandsons of Ampatuan Sr. who is now detained along with other family members for last year’s massacre of 58 people in hilly Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town.

“These CVOs who are now lawless are still there in the hinterlands of Ampatuan,” Asto said, adding that the 46th IB are still pursuing them.

“We believe they (CVO members) suffered heavy casualties with the military using artillery resources to flush the lawless elements numbering about 50,” Asto said.

The following morning, pursuing lawmen recovered an M-60 machinegun with ammunition, 60-mm mortar launcher, and a portable generator left by the lawless group while fleeing to the mountains of Ampatuan town.

Asto said the lawless elements remain defiant despite calls from the government and the military for them to peacefully surrender after they were implicated in the massacre.

The militiamen were linked to the massacre either as lookouts, part of the group that flagged down a convoy of vehicles of Genalyn Mangudadatu and journalists or directly took part in the carnage.

At least 58 people were killed in the massacre, considered as the single worst attack against journalists and the country’s worst election-related violence.

Asto said the scene of the firefight was far from the national highway linking Cotabato City and General Santos City. Soldiers were deployed along the highway to secure commuters.                         – With Jaime Laude