MAGUINDANAO – Violence erupted in the troubled province of Maguindanao in southern Philippines following simultaneous attacks on the mansions of the former provincial governor and his son in Shariff Aguak town, officials said Wednesday.
Officials said gunmen sprayed the mansions of Andal Ampatuan and Zaldy Ampatuan with automatic weapons fire and wounding a civilian in the latest wave of political violence in the province.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the drive-by shootings on the mansions of Andal and Zaldy.
The raid occurred following recent rocket attacks on the house of rival Shariff Aguak Mayor Maroph Ampatuan and his father Akmad, a former mayor of Datu Salibo town. One civilian, Ali Dimaludin, was also injured in the attacks.
Officials, citing intelligence reports, have tagged Tamano Mamalapat, a former rebel commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, as behind the attacks on Maroph and his father. The MILF signed a peace accord with Manila last year.
The rocket attacks on Maroph and Akmad’s houses were believed connected to politics after father and son turned their back on the Ampatuan patriarch and his sons and other family members who are accused of murdering 58 people, including 32 journalists and media workers in Maguindanao in 2009.
Just last month, gunmen also ambushed Akmad’s convoy and wounding him and two of his bodyguards in Guindulungan town, also in Maguindanao.
Ampatuan’s convoy was heading to Shariff Aguak when gunmen attacked the politician’s vehicle. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Maguindanao has been the center of violence in recent months following a spate of gun attacks and killings perpetrated by rebels and other armed groups actively operating in the troubled province.
Also in December, an unidentified assailant also fired a rifle grenade on the mansion of Shariff Aguak Mayor Zahara Upam Ampatuan, who was recently implicated in the massacre. Zahara has denied the charges against her, but has gone into hiding because of threats to her life.
The attack on Zahara’s mansion caused little damage as the grenade exploded on the sprawling compound. (Mindanao Examiner)
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