BASILAN PROVINCE (Mindanao Examiner / July 31, 2013) – An unidentified gunman shot dead a pro-government militia in an attack in Isabela City in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, police said Wednesday.
Police said Rakib Hatib was killed instantly in the attack that occurred late Tuesday at a bus terminal in the village of Menzi.
The motive of the killing is still unknown, but police said an investigation has been launched to identify the assailant.
Gun attacks are not uncommon in Isabela City where many cases remain unresolved. Most of the killings are believed carried out by guns-for-hire.
Just recently, motorcycle gunmen also shot and killed a woman and wounded her husband in the same village. The couple Aurelia and Virgilio Ablao was heading home on a motorcycle from a cockpit arena after winning a game when gunmen attacked them.
The woman tried to escape from her attackers, but she was shot in the head as she ran for safety. Her husband, Virgilio, was also shot, but managed to flee from the gunmen.
Police said the gunmen took the woman’s bag containing some P50,000 in cash believed to be part of the winning in the gambling, and the husband’s .45-caliber pistol.
Basilan is one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao. (With a report from Richard Falcatan)
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