Sunday, July 21, 2013

Army, police peacekeepers sent to Lanao Sur to stop clan wars

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 21): Army, police peacekeepers sent to Lanao Sur to stop clan wars

Policemen backed by soldiers have been deployed to a remote town in Lanao del Sur following a clan war that killed seven and wounded five others, police said.

Chief Superintendent Noel Delos Reyes, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) where Lanao del Sur is a component province, said policemen belonging to the Public Safety Battalion of Lanao del Sur police office and soldiers from the 102nd Infantry Brigade to the town of Bayang to serve as “peacekeepers.”

On Saturday, the four families of Kapal and three from Macugar clan clashed leaving seven persons killed from both sides, according to the Lanao del Sur police office.

Delos Reyes, citing report from Lanao del Sur police, said the two clans are locked in a long standing family feud, locally known as “rido.”

Police could not say what triggered the “rido” but many of clan wars in Lanao del Sur have been over political, business, economic and crimes.

The fatalities were separately buried Sunday by the warring clans under heavy police escorts to suppress retaliation from either side.

Solaiman Macapaar, a village official of Bayang, said the conflict erupted after one of the Kapal family members was shot allegedly by another member of the Macugar family.

The wounded family members are now confined at a private hospital in Iligan City with police escorts for fear of further reprisal.

Police authorities in Lanao del Sur could not say why the clan members are armed.

The province has been known for having high number of loose firearms in the hands of its residents.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=546404

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