Maguindanao del Sur mayor lauds arrest of RPG ambush suspect

COTABATO CITY – Mayor Akmad Mitra Ampatuan Jr. of Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur, has lauded the arrest of one of the suspects in the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) ambush against him last January 25.

Mayor Ampatuan commended the police for arresting Toraipe Lusod on Saturday, October 24, in Barangay Meta, Datu Unsay, Maguindanao del Sur.

Lusod is a co-accused of Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan V, whom Akmad claimed as the alleged mastermind in the latest failed attempt to kill him.

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READ: Suspect in RPG attack on Maguindanao mayor arrested

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“The world is getting smaller for the suspects, including Mayor Ampatuan V of Datu Unsay town in Maguindanao del Sur; they better surrender and face the charges in court,” Akmad Ampatuan said.

Efforts to reach Unsay V proved futile as of posting.

Lusod, tagged as the top most wanted person in Maguindanao del Sur and No. 8 in the Bangsamoro region, was the second suspect in the failed assassination of Akmad Ampatuan, now in government custody.

Last March, the alleged lookout surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

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Akmad Ampatuan had survived six assassination attempts since 2010. The mayor had served as a witness in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, which claimed the lives of 58 people, including 32 media workers.

Authorities recovered an M4 rifle and live ammunition from Lusod, who is now detained at the Shariff Aguak Municipal Police Station and who led the operation.

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The Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF), the Provincial Intelligence Unit, and the Maguindanao del Sur Police Provincial Office provided law enforcement support./coa