6 killed in Abu Sayyaf attack in Basilan — Army

Six people, including a seven-year-old child, were killed following an attack staged by suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf in a civilian community in Basilan on Tuesday, a military official said. Four still unidentified civilians were killed in the crossfire after 15 members of the bandit group led by Uto Takas and Radzmil Janatul swooped down in Sumisip town at 5:45 a.m., Philippine Army deputy spokesperson Major Harold Cabunoc said. A militiaman identified as Rolly Hashim was also killed after he single-handedly fought the attackers before seven soldiers arrived at the scene, Cabunoc added. Private First Class Renz Calacapa, who led the team of soldiers which responded to the attack, was also killed during the hour-long firefight, according to Cabunoc. Maj. Gen. Noel Coballes, commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, meanwhile said that two others--a militiaman and a civilian--were injured due to the incident. He added that the attack might have been triggered by a rido or a clan war. "We are still assessing if it's indeed rido. We are still looking into the angle but normally incidents like these are normally caused by rido," he said in a separate interview. Colonel Alexander Macario, commander of the Special Operations Task Force deployed in the area, for his part, ordered the deployment of more soldiers in the civilian community to pursue the attackers. “This dastardly act of shooting innocent civilians must be condemned by the Muslim community and Filipinos as a whole," he said in a statement. Two weeks ago, three members of an armed group reportedly associated with the Abu Sayyaf group were killed by soldiers in the same town. The Abu Sayyaf, which has ties with the international terrorist group al-Qaeda, is largely blamed for a number of bombings and kidnappings in the country, mostly in southern Philippines. — with Andreo Calonzo/RSJ, GMA News