One person was killed when a firefight erupted between warring Moro families locked in a standing ‘rido’ (clan feud) in the Special Geographic Area (SGA) of the Bangsamoro autonomous region on Wednesday, the Army reported.
Lt. Colonel Erwin Jay Dumaghan, commander of the Army’s 40th Infantry Battalion, said a certain Jiango Sampulna, a relative of a village councilman who was party to the conflict, was killed. The conflict caused at least 50 families to flee their homes, and they were reluctant to return as of Thursday morning.
Hostilities erupted between the group of a certain Mackly Adam and that of Taib Sampulna, a village councilman of Barangay Barongis, Ligawasan town of the SGA in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) around 7 a.m. on Wednesday. It was largely caused by the long-standing family feud and territorial dispute in this Bangsamoro community.
Troops from the 40th IB, aboard armored personnel carriers, rushed to the village to secure affected civilians.
But although firefight ceased when soldiers arrived, the firing started again about an hour or two later, Dumaghan said.
Seven high-powered firearms and a hand grenade were recovered at the clash site during the army’s clearing operation.
Brig. Gen. Ricky P. Bunayog, commander of the 602nd Infantry Brigade, ordered the soldiers to stay in the village to serve as peacekeepers, ensure the safety of civilians, and prevent the spillover of tension to nearby communities.