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MARAWI CITY (MindaNews/13 July) — Gunmen fired at soldiers escorting construction workers in Poona Bayabao town, Lanao del Sur this morning, killing one Army trooper and seriously wounding five others, the military said.
Brig. Gen. Rey Ardo, chief of the 103rd Infantry Brigade, said the soldiers were on an Isuzu light truck when the gunmen ambushed them near a police station in Barangay Gata, Poona Bayabao.
Ardo said the soldiers were securing the construction work of Regenox Company which is building the Lake Lanao circumferential road.
He said the ambush was led by Dimaporo Mari-in Demasakal alias Kumander Delta Force, the prime suspect in the kidnapping of Nuralden Yusoph, son of Elections Commissioner Elias Yusoph.
“The MILF has nothing to do with the ambush. The kidnappers staged this to divert our attention,” Ardo said.
He said elements of two Army battalions are combing the towns of Lanao del Sur to find Yusoph.
The 22-year-old Yusoph was abducted in Barangay Sabala Amanao in Marawi City while on his way to pray at the Bato Ali Mosque last June 18.
Ardo said the wounded soldiers were brought to Amai Pakpak Hospital in Marawi City. (MindaNews)
