Marine killed, officer hurt in Maguindanao clash

DATU SALIBO, Maguindanao --- A combatant of the 25thMarine Company was killed while an officer was wounded Monday night when bandits attacked a peasant enclave in west of Salibo town in Maguindanao.The fatality, Pvt. Ronel Undecimo, died from multiple bullet wounds he sustained in a firefight with members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.The encounter was sparked by the incursion by about a hundred BIFF bandits into Sitio Ampuad in Barangay Andavit in Datu Salibo at past 8and00 p.m. Monday.The marines positioned in an open field east of Sitio Ampuad returned fire and engaged the bandits in a 30-minute firefight, preventing them from closing in.An officer, 2ndLt. Shajeed Andik, was wounded in the ensuing encounter.The exchanges of gunfire waned only after the bandits ran out of ammunition, forcing them to retreat to a nearby marsh carrying five wounded companions.Villagers have confirmed that five BIFF gunmen were wounded in the skirmishes, four of them initially identified as Kiram, Alikhan, Samroud, and Jamil, all ethnic Maguindanaons.Military units and BIFF bandits have been fighting for control of strategic patches of lands in Datu Salibo, located in the second district of Maguindanao, since late January.