ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Four people, including a town mayor, were killed in an ambush staged by still unidentified suspects in the island province of Basilan in southern Philippines.
Basilan Police District chief Senior Superintendent Macapantar Salik said Al-Barka Mayor Karam Jakilan and three of his companions were killed when the suspects opened fire on his vehicle at Barangay (village) Cabangalan in Tipo-Tipo town at about 5 p.m.
Salik identified one of the three other victims as Hjimran Jomar, who died at the hospital. He said one of the two unidentified victims was a woman.
Three people were also wounded in the ambush, namely PO1 Adam Ismail, Mannan Jakilan and Agravante Ricardo, Salik said.
The official said Jakilan was on his way home from Lamitan town when attacked.
Investigators were looking into clan war as one of the motives behind the ambuscade.
"We are investigating the ambush and are looking into clan war as one of the motives in the killing of the mayor," said Chief Superintendent Bensali Jabarani, the regional police chief.
He said he had already ordered police forces to hunt down the killers of Jakilan.
Marine Brig. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, commander of military forces on the island, said troops have been deployed to track down the assailants.
"We still don't know who were behind the ambush, but we have troops tracking down the killers," he said.
The attack was believed to be connected to the earlier shooting of a village chieftain in Tipo-Tipo by one of Jakilan's bodyguards.
Al-Barka is a known lair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels and Abu Sayyaf bandits, blamed for the brutal killing of 14 soldiers – 10 of them beheaded – in July 2007. - with Al Jacinto, GMANews.TV
Mayor, 3 others killed in Basilan ambush
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