7 bandits killed in Sultan Kudarat clash

SULTAN KUDARAT – Seven suspected members of a local bandit group were killed in an encounter with Marines in Palimbang town in this province yesterday.

Sources from the police and barangay officials confirmed the firefight, which erupted when the armed men, led by a certain Jaafar Maguid, shot at the troopers of the 1st Marine Brigade dispatched to check reports of extortion targeting villagers in Barangay Butril.

Maguid, wanted for a string of offenses including cattle theft, extortion and drugs, has reportedly been interfering in the way the officials run the village.

The troopers were approaching Sitio Sinapingan when the gunmen waylaid them, triggering an encounter.

Witnesses said the bandits fled, taking with them their wounded companions.

Marines recovered firearms and ammunition left behind by the bandits along their escape routes.