2 suspects in Maguindanao ambush identified

GUINDULUNGAN, Maguindanao, Philippines — Police have identified two alleged principal suspects in an ambush that killed nine persons in this province on Saturday.

One of the nine fatalities was Pegez Mamasainged, a senior member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

In a statement issued yesterday, the Maguindanao police said the armed men who ambushed the victims were led by Jordan Lintang Mama and his son Morshid.

Local officials said Mama is also a member of the MILF.

The Mamas are reportedly related to Mamasainged, whose three sons were also killed in the ambush.

The families of Mama and Mamasainged have been locked in a clan war for a long time now, police said.

Mamasainged and his companions were in a Mitsubishi Montero and Ford Ranger pickup truck when the armed men assaulted them in Barangay Kalumamis, Guindulungan town.

After the carnage, the gunmen reportedly took the victims’ belongings before fleeing.

Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, chief of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told journalists that the military is helping the local police track down the suspects.