Civilians flee as warring Moro rebel commanders clash anew in Pikit

KIDAPAWAN CITY -– At least 70 percent of the residents of a remote village in Pikit town in North Cotabato fled to safer areas when two warring clans clashed anew, Thursday.Senior Inspector Sindatu Karim, chief of Pikit municipal police station, said that around a thousand families of the 1,530 households in Barangay Talitay left their homes when Commander Bhutto Mantol attacked the blocking forces of Commanders Mukamad Andoy and Ricky Hussain, around 530 a.m.The warring commanders belong to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Karim said.The site where the fighting took place is few kilometers away from Camp Rajamuda, one of the biggest MILF bases in North Cotabato.Karim said the evacuees sought temporary shelter at barangays Inug-og and Gli-Gli, both in Pikit. The armed clashes in Barangay Talitay came two days after unidentified gunmen ambushed and killed a village chieftain in Pikit town.Pecson Mangansakan of Barangay Ginatilan died of several gunshot wounds on his chest.His wife, Marilou, district supervisor of the Department of Education (DepEd) Pikit-West, who was also onboard the multi-cab, was unharmed.Initial reports said long-time rido (family feud) caused Mangansakan’s murder.However, it was not, in a way, connected to the recent clan feuds in Barangay Talitay, according to Karim.Mangansakan’s clan and the families at odds in nearby Talitay village were not, in any way, related to each other, he explained.