At least four members of the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang were killed in a gunfight with soldiers and policemen conducting operations aimed at freeing a kidnapped grocery owner in Maguindanao on Thursday. Brigadier General Agustin Dema-ala, chief of the Army’s 604th Infantry Brigade, said the slain suspects were followers of Alonto Tahir, the gang leader behind the abduction of 52-year-old Zoila Kansi of Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat. Dema-ala said operatives of the Task Force Kansi sighted a band of armed men moving in the village of Lagaw in Sultan sa Barongis town.
But the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, already worried the military operation could trigger fresh violence in Maguindanao, said those killed were civilians caught in the crossfire. Eid "Lipless Eddie" Kabalu, MILF spokesperson, said government troops opened fire upon reaching the village, sending residents into a panic. He said the MILF only managed to identify the first names of three of the victims as Pido, Pindot and Pino. But Dema-ala insisted the fatalities were gang members. He said village officials told the military that the suspects belonged to Tahir’s group. Meanwhile, Lambayong Mayor Ramon Abalos said the abductors phoned anew the victim’s husband Ruben and insisted on their ransom demand. "The kidnappers have lowered the demand from eight million pesos to five million pesos," Abalos said. He said the victim’s family had sought the help of authorities because there was no way they could raise the money. |