KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews / 30 April) – A barangay official was killed while six other persons were wounded in an ambush Thursday morning in Matalam, North Cotabato.
Captain Junrel Amutan, chief of the Matalam municipal police station, identified the slain victim as Norodin Sulayman Ali Ambil, a councilor of Barangay Kilada, Matalam.
The attack happened in Purok Tagumpay-Dos, Kilada around 6:30am Thursday.
Among those wounded in the attack was Rowena De Leon, Kilada barangay chair and Ambil’s live-in partner.
The other wounded victims were identified as Romeo Datu Ali Ambil, kagawad of Kilada, Robert Datu Ali Ambil, Alipin Onotin Ambil, Datu Mauro Ambil Matalam, and Hamarodin Datu Ali Indao, all residents of Kilada.
Reports from the police intelligence unit said Ambil was also the deputy chair of the Moro National Liberation Front Sebangan – Kutawato State Revolutionary Committee (MNLF-SKSRC) led by his father, Datu Dima Ambil.
Amutan said Ambil was driving his Isuzu DMax pickup truck when the gunmen struck hitting him in the head. His vehicle hit a tree near the road.
The police official said they will investigate if the attack was related to a rido or feud with another Moro family due to a longstanding land conflict.
A year ago, a rido between the Ambil clan and another Moro family led by Naig Naga and Michael Imbong, both members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, was already settled by community leaders.
Thursday’s attack against Ambil triggered the evacuation of at least 174 families from three puroks of Kilada.
A hundred other families from nearby villages sought temporary shelter in Barangay Marbel in Kidapawan City. (Malu Cadeliña-Manar/MindaNews)