160 families flee as armed groups clash in SGA-BARMM
COTABATO CITY – About 160 families fled to safer grounds Thursday night after armed groups exchanged gunfire in Barangay Malingao, Kadayangan, in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) Special Geographic Area (SGA) in Cotabato province.
Barangay Malingao chairperson Norodin Dilangalen said that the families, numbering over 800 individuals, evacuated around 9 p.m. as unidentified armed groups exchanged gunfire in the area.
A civilian was reportedly injured by stray bullets, but police are still verifying the report.
“It happened in the same area of Purok 4, Barangay Malingao, when four people were killed last June 2 in a gun attack linked to the illegal drug trade,” Dilangalen said in a Friday radio interview.
“The individuals involved in Thursday night’s skirmishes could be the same people involved in the June 2 gun attack,” Dilangalen added.
Elements of the Kadayangan Municipal Police Station and soldiers from the 33rd Infantry Battalion are now conducting clearing operations in the village.
Personnel from the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD-BARMM) are now attending to the immediate needs of the displaced families, distributing food packs and other non-food items. (PNA)