Overview
- The attack unfolded at about 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 25 in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur, with CCTV showing a man firing an RPG and another shooting an automatic rifle at the mayor’s SUV.
- Mayor Akmad Mitra Ampatuan was unharmed inside an armored vehicle, while two members of his security detail sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
- Security forces pursued the assailants after the ambush, killing three of the four suspects in a shootout, with one suspect still at large.
- Authorities identified the alleged ringleader as Budtong “Raprap” Pendatun and said several accomplices were his relatives, including a sibling believed to be the driver who escaped.
- Investigators are focusing on local political tensions and the possibility the attack was a contracted killing, and the mayor has requested heightened security.