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E-mailA raid by a group of gunmen on a village in Basilan has resulted in the death of at least 12 people. Another 10 have been reported wounded.
According to the police, around 70 gunmen attacked Poblacion Tubigan in Maluso town at around 4 a.m., opening fire with automatic weapons and torching houses. The raiders were identified by the military as the group of Abu Sayyaf leader Puruji Indama together with the followers of renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander Dick Alao.
The raiders specifically targeted the home of barangay chairman Leleng Laping, said Basilan provincial police director Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza.
“The gunmen set on fire the house of Laping and three others nearby and fired on the other houses while the victims were still asleep,” he said.
Mendoza added that the attack could have been due to a tribal "rido" or feud between Alao and Laping.
“This was the cause of a retaliation. He personally led the bandits and carefully selecting the houses of Laping’s relatives in order to launch his revenge,” he said.
According to PhilStar.com, the feud arose from Alao blaming Laping for the death of his son. A different report by ABS-CBN News says that Alao blamed a relative of Laping for killing his brother. Basilan police have also mentioned that Alao used to live in the village and was a former supporter of then-Tubigan village chief Aurello Laping.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner mentioned it was possible that the attack was due to rido.
“One of the attackers [Alao] identified by witnesses was sent away from the village three years ago due to some conflict,” he said. “But it is too early to say if indeed the killings were driven by rido.”
Malacanang has also raised the possibility that the raid was in retaliation for recent advances the military has made on the Abu Sayyaf, including the slaying of bandit leaders like Albader Parad.
Presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said that Western Mindanao Command has been placed on heightened alert “to undertake measures to account for the perpetrators and at the same time extend assistance to affected families.”
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