Army to prevent clan war in Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY -The military's 601st Infantry Brigade has intervened to prevent bloodshed in a clan feud involving relatives of the principal suspect in the infamous 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

Colonel Cirilito Sobejana, 601st brigade commander, said he has summoned the family of Vice Mayor Bai Ameerah Ampatuan-Mamalapat of Shariff Saydona and Vice Mayor Akmad Ampatuan of Shariff Aguak, all in Maguindanao.

Sobejana urged the warring families to come to his office in Tacurong City for a dialogue aimed at preventing bloody confrontation and dislocation of civilians.

Vice Mayor Ampatuan-Mamalapat of Shariff Saydona has a house in Barangay Poblacion, Shariff Aguak which unidentified gunmen strafed on Sunday dawn.

Ampatuan Mamalapat immediately raised an accusing finger against Vice Mayor Akmad Ampatuan of Shariff Aguak who also denied the allegations.

The two families who are related by blood are at odds over political issues and affiliations.

Police authorities in Shariff Aguak reported that unidentified gunmen strafed the house of AmpatuanMamalapat using M-16 and M-14 Armalite rifles. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

Last year, unidentified men tossed a hand grenade in the house of Ampatuan-Mamalapat but it did not explode.

Police also deployed peacekeeping forces in the houses of Vice Mayor Ampatuan-Mamalapat and Vice Mayor Ampatuan.

The warring families belonged to the Ampatuan clan and relative of Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr, alias "Datu Unsay," the primary suspect in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre that left 58 persons dead.