5 dead, 5 wounded in Lanao del Norte ambush

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Unidentified armed men suspected to be vigilantes fired upon a group of civilians Sunday night in the southern Philippine province of Lanao del Norte, killing five of them, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said. Mohagher Iqbal, a senior MILF leader, said the attack occurred about 5 p.m. Sunday in Magsaysay town. He said the victims came from a picnic at a beach and were heading home when gunmen attacked them. Iqbal said five others were injured. "The victims were their home onboard a vehicle when they were ambushed," he told GMANews.TV, quoting unnamed sources. "Five were killed, including children. The perpetrators are Ilagas." Iqbal did not say how many children were killed, but he claimed the MILF, the country's largest Muslim rebel group, is investigating the attack. "We are still getting more details of the ambush," he said while condemning the attack. But in a phone interview with reporters, Col. Benito de Leon, commander of the Army’s 104th Brigade that operates in the province, said the incident could be a result of a clan war or rido. "It appears that this is a case of rido, there’s infighting among them (victims and the suspects). That’s the initial angle," de Leon said without elaborating further. De Leon said the victims were Maranaos. But de Leon would not say if the suspects had group affiliations. "It appears that they are armed elements but we are still determining their group affiliation. As of this time, it’s too early to conclude which group they are affiliated." On insinuations that the ambushers were members of the Ilaga vigilante group, de Leon said: "That is one information that’s spreading but we cannot confirm that yet. That’s something that is difficult to hype." - with a report from Al Jacinto, GMANews.TV