2 alleged Ampatuan men killed in Maguindanao clash

Two suspected members of the powerful Ampatuan clan’s private army were killed in a clash with the military just after midnight Monday in Maguindanao province, the Armed Forces of the Philipines said. Special Operations Command chief Maj. Gen. Arturo Ortiz said troops from the 9th Scout Ranger Company and the 46th Infantry Battalion were patrolling Barangay Bagong in Mamasapano town when they encountered about 30 armed men. Ortiz said two unidentified men from the armed group were killed in the 30-minute clash. The rest of the group fled the battle ground. Government forces in Maguindanao, the Amaptuan family’s stronghold, have been pursuing members of the clan’s private army, which allegedly carried out the massacre of 57 people in Ampatuan town last November 23, 2009. An independent commission tasked to neutralize private armies has listed Maguindanao as one of the provinces where private armed groups linked to local clans abound and threaten the orderly conduct of the coming elections. AFP Eastern Mindanao Command spokesman Maj. Randolph Cabangbang said the armed group the military encountered could have been part of the Ampatuan’s private army. “They probably belong to the same group we are pursuing… Those who remain in hiding are probably directly involved [in the November 23 massacre]," Cabangbang said. Cabangbang also said the group could not return to their former territory which is already occupied by government forces. “They want to penetrate Sharif Aguak [Maguindanao’s capital] but they cannot do it because soldiers already encounter them on the outskirts," he said. Maguindanao remains under a state of emergency following the brutal killings last November, allowing the armed forces greater leeway in pursuing private armies. After what her government said was a rebellion being staged by the Ampatuans and their followers, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed the province under martial law on December 4 and lifted it eight days later. - Sophie Dedace/HGS, GMANews.TV