Maguindanao town rocked by explosions, responding cops ambushed
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 1 April) — Explosions and heavy gunfire rocked the municipality of Rajah Buayan in Maguindanao del Sur Wednesday as a police patrol car was bombed and peppered with bullets while responding to an earlier attack on a municipal administrator’s home.
Capt. Steffi Salanguit, spokesperson of Police Regional Office (PRO-12), said that the officers escaped injury.
Only a few days ago, five police officers were killed while three others were wounded in an ambush in Shariff Aguak municipality also in Maguindanao del Sur, with the Dawla Islamiya as the suspect.
Salanguit said the attack began past 8 a.m. Wednesday after authorities received reports of an explosion at the residence of the municipal administrator in Barangay Poblacion.
As personnel from the Rajah Buayan Municipal Police Station were en route to the scene, an explosion struck their patrol car along the road in Barangay Sapakan. Unidentified armed men opened fire on the officers immediately following the blast.
“Alhamdulillah! None of our troops were injured; only a few pieces of shrapnel hit the patrol car,” Salanguit said.
In addition to the initial blast, authorities found a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) within the vicinity of the first crime scene in Poblacion.
The series of violent acts coincided with the scheduled assumption of command for the new provincial police director of Maguindanao del Sur.
Col. Michael John Mangahis is set to replace Col. Salman Sapal Wednesday. Resolving the prevailing tension in Rajah Buayan and apprehending the suspects behind the Shariff Aguak ambush are expected to be the primary challenges facing Mangahis as he takes office.
Military and police units are currently conducting clearing and pursuit operations to identify those behind the Rajah Buayan ambush. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)
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