Officials said there was no report of casualties, but the attack which was carried out on the open sea under cover of darkness, cut off power in the Muslim province.
“There is no damage to the power barge and the guards immediately retaliated against the attack,” Colonel Carlito Galvez, commander of the 104th Infantry Brigade in the province, told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman, who was informed of the attack, said the identities of the gunmen were not immediately known. “We don’t know who were responsible for this strafing, but authorities are investigating the attack,” he said in a separate interview.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the strafing, but it was not the first time the diesel-fed power barge had been attacked. Last year, the barge was also strafed by gunmen on motorboats and authorities said extortion was likely motive of the attack.
The barge provides electricity to the province. (Mindanao Examiner)
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