TWO soldiers were killed while five others wounded in an ambush on Christmas Eve in the province of Lanao del Sur, the military reported.
Brigadier General Bagnus Gaerlan, Jr., Army’s 1st Infantry Division and Joint Task Force Zampelan acting commander, said the ambush happened around 7 a.m. Tuesday in Bandaraingud Village, Pagayawan town, Lanao del Sur.
Gaerlan said the troops were on the way to the site of an ambush that happened Monday in Bandaraingud, Pagayawan when Corporal Nao Mohammad Lassam, a scalawag soldier, ambushed them.
Gaerlan did not disclose the identity of the slain and wounded soldiers except in saying they belong to the Army’s 55th Infantry Battalion.
“Thorough investigation, pursuit and manhunt of the perpetrator is ongoing. Our unit commanders were directed and to cooperate with the friendly forces to apprehend the perpetrator,” he said.
He also assured best medical care for the wounded trooper for speedy recovery.
Killed in the ambush Monday, also in the village of Bandaraingud, was Police Executive Master Sergeant Amen Lucman Macalangan, the police chief of Binidayan town and his driver Ramel Pangcatan.
Two other companions of Macalangan were unhurt. They are police non-uniform personnel Asliah Adiong and another policeman, Patrolman Nasser Arafat.
Police Colonel Madzgani Mukaram, Lanao del Sur police director, said the victims were returning to Binidayan from a weekly oversight meeting at the provincial police headquarters in Marawi City when they were waylaid. (SunStar Zamboanga)