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KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/14 February) — At least 96 families displaced by more than a month of armed fighting between two warring Moro clans in Barangay Nangaan in Kabacan town returned to their homes on Sunday, military reports said.
Lt. Col. Domingo Gubuay, commander of the 7th Infantry Battalion, said they escorted the evacuees back to their villages.
The displaced families stayed for more than a month at the SalapunganElementary School in Barangay Salapungan, also in Kabacan town.
Gubuay said the area is now safe for the return of the evacuees, claiming they had driven the armed men away from the village.
At least three armored tanks were deployed in the area to secure the villagers.
Gubuay said they also expect some 200 families who sought temporary shelter at Pisan Elementary School in Barangay Pisan, Kabacan to return to their homes today (Monday).
The return came a week after Commander Dima Ambel of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) SebanganKutawato State Revolutionary Committee re-positioned his troops away from Barangay Nangaan.
The camp of Ambel said the order was a result of the joint meeting of the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) held last February 6 in Kabacan.
The fighting between the group of Ambel and Commander Kineg Minalang of the MILF broke out on January 9, resulting to a number of casualties and the displacement of more than 1,500 families from Barangays Simone and Nangaan.
(Malu Cadelina-Manar/MindaNews)