2 wounded in ambush in Cotabato City

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Two Moro residents were wounded in an ambush at a residential area here on Friday night that caused panic among villagers.

Misuari Tatak, 49, and his companion, the 25-year-old Datu Akbar Maulana, were together in a sports utility vehicle when they were repeatedly shot by gunmen positioned at a stretch of the 5th Road in Barangay Rosary Heights here, wounding both of them.

Col. Querubin Manalang Jr., Cotabato City police director, told reporters on Saturday that the wounded Tatak and Maulana were immediately transported to a hospital by emergency responders and personnel of the city’s Police Precinct 2 that has jurisdiction over Barangay Rosary Heights 5.

Manalang said witnesses have informed investigators who responded to the incident that the men who perpetrated the ambush are known to them, now subject of a manhunt by units of the Cotabato City Police Office.

The incident caused panic among villagers in houses around the spot where Tatak and Maulana were ambushed.