Three months after police and military implicated the powerful Ampatuan clan to the brutal killings of 57 people in the southern Filipino province of Maguindanao, authorities continue searching for weapons used in the carnage.(Mindanao Examiner Photo - Mark Navales)MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 14, 2010) – Three months after police and military implicated the powerful Ampatuan clan to the brutal killings of 57 people in the southern Filipino province of Maguindanao, authorities continue searching for weapons used in the carnage.
Gunmen allegedly led by Datu unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr allegedly led the November 23 attack. Among those killed were at least 31 journalists who were traveling with a political convoy of the wife of Buluan town vice mayor Esmael Mangudadatu.
The Ampatuan and Mangudadatu clans are bitter political foe.
Ampatuan Jr and his father and namesake and brothers and other clan members were also arrested and are facing multiple murder charges in connection with the killings. The Ampatuans all denied involvement in the gruesome murders.
Just recently, members of the National Bureau of Investigation led by Ricardo Diaz searched the sprawling compound of the mansion of Ampatuan Sr in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao after reports suggested illegal weapons were hidden there.
Authorities have recovered more than a thousand assorted light artillery and heavy infantry weapons and hundreds of thousands of munitions in the town after President Gloria Arroyo declared martial law in Maguindanao after the massacre. (Mark Navales contributed to this report)
Gunmen allegedly led by Datu unsay town mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr allegedly led the November 23 attack. Among those killed were at least 31 journalists who were traveling with a political convoy of the wife of Buluan town vice mayor Esmael Mangudadatu.
The Ampatuan and Mangudadatu clans are bitter political foe.
Ampatuan Jr and his father and namesake and brothers and other clan members were also arrested and are facing multiple murder charges in connection with the killings. The Ampatuans all denied involvement in the gruesome murders.
Just recently, members of the National Bureau of Investigation led by Ricardo Diaz searched the sprawling compound of the mansion of Ampatuan Sr in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao after reports suggested illegal weapons were hidden there.
Authorities have recovered more than a thousand assorted light artillery and heavy infantry weapons and hundreds of thousands of munitions in the town after President Gloria Arroyo declared martial law in Maguindanao after the massacre. (Mark Navales contributed to this report)
No comments:
Post a Comment