DATU PIANG, Philippines, 28 October — Residents of a village in Maguindanao province yesterday accused army soldiers of executing two minors aged 11 and 13.
The two children were reportedly collecting empty shells in Barangay Tatapan of Sharif Aguak town at about 6:30 a.m. last Thursday when elements of the army’s 37th Infantry Battalion seized them.
Residents said the children were at a site where soldiers were positioned in the latest fighting with forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
A third child identified only as To managed to escape and relate what happened to his companions, village officials said. The officials said they have asked the military to at least tell them where to find the children’s cadavers for a burial but their request was turned down.
Army soldiers were said to have vented their ire on local residents because they lost more than 20 men during a clash on Oct. 21.
Relatives of the two minor victims might file a complaint with the state Commission on Human Rights, villagers told Arab News.
