Lanao Sur governor wounded, 4 escorts dead in ambush
Breaking News • 22:45 PM Fri Feb 17, 2023
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By:
John M. Unson
COTABATO CITY - The governor of Lanao del Sur survived an ambush Friday afternoon with a bullet wound in the leg, but four of his escorts were not as lucky.
Officials of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region confirmed the incident to reporters citing that four escorts of Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. were killed in the attack.
Initial reports from the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office said Adiong and his companions, in separate vehicles, were on their way to Wao town in Lanao del Sur when they were attacked by suspected members of a local terrorist group fashioned from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Officials of units under the Army’s 103rd Brigade, covering Marawi City and nearby towns, said Adiong’s convoy was attacked in a secluded stretch of a highway connecting Maguing, Lanao del Sur to Wao.
Relatives of Adiong told reporters the governor has no known enemies and that his clan is not involved in any “rido,” meaning family feud in the Maranao vernacular.
The governor’s relatives even provided selected reporters a video showing emergency responders helping him get inside an ambulance that would transport him to a hospital.
“He is not serious but four of his companions were killed in the incident,” a cousin of the governor, also a politician, said. (JOHN UNSON)