Clashes over territorial control in South Upi dislocate residents
Local News • 10:30 AM Fri Oct 4, 2019
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By:
John M. Unson
Image for illustration only from google
MAGUINDANAO --- Two heavily-armed groups squabbling for control of strategic patches of arable lands in South Upi town again clashed Thursday, sending hundreds of villagers running for their lives.
The conflict involves a group of Maguindanaons and indigenous ethnic Tedurays in centuries-old ancestral settlements in productive lands in Barangay Kuya in South Upi town in the second district of Maguindanao.
The two groups have figured in a spate of gunfights early on that affected the supposedly unimpeded flow of traffic on a stretch of a highway traversing Barangay Kuya, connecting South Upi to Lebak town in Sultan Kudarat province.
The Army’s 6th Infantry Division and the Regional Police Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao separately announced Friday that both are now initiating the resolution of the conflict to stave off its possible spillover to nearby barangays.
The 6th ID and PRO-BARMM have separately warned to use force against protagonists if both sides do not agree to leave Barangay Kuya to pave the way for the return of displaced residents.