ZAMBOANGA CITY – Unidentified gunmen strafed a motorized boat on Tuesday and wounded at least 4 people off the restive province of Basilan in southern Philippines, police said.
It said the attackers, who were also on a boat, opened fire on the victims who came from the town of Lantawan and on their way to the neighboring province of Sulu. Both Basilan and Sulu are part of the Muslim autonomous region.
The victims were rescued and brought to Zamboanga City for emergency medical treatment.
The motive of the attack was unknown and no individual or group claimed responsibility for the strafing, the second strafing since last week.
Gunmen also rained bullets on a house in Ungkaya Pukan and killed four of its occupants, one of them a former village chieftain. Police said it arrested one of the suspects in the killing. It was unclear whether the attack was an offshoot of a clan war or political violence since village elections are up coming.
Political violence is notorious in the autonomous region where various rebel groups are actively operating and clan war always play a part in the polls where opposing or feuding candidates themselves are fighting over elected positions. (Mindanao Examiner)
20
