In Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur, authorities are ramping up efforts to capture two gunmen on a motorcycle who carried out a deadly assault in Barangay Labu-Labu on Monday evening. The attack claimed the lives of two individuals and left three others wounded. According to Colonel Bobby Paloma, the provincial police director, the assailants targeted a group of village watchmen, including members of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT), around 7 p.m. The deceased were identified as a 17-year-old BPAT member and 20-year-old Esmael Singh, both from Barangay Labu-Labu Mother. The injured victims, Anwar Banalan (20), Mohamad Husain (30), and another 17-year-old male, are also residents of the same village. The attack occurred at a BPAT checkpoint on the national highway. This incident marks the second attack on BPAT members in Shariff Aguak within a week, following a similar assault at the town’s public market on January 22, which resulted in one BPAT member killed and another injured. The police are currently pursuing several persons of interest as they continue to investigate the motive behind these attacks.
