6 dead in Basilan firefight

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines  – Six people – four civilians and two government troopers – were killed while five others were wounded in a firefight with armed men linked with the Abu Sayyaf who attacked a village in Sumisip, Basilan before dawn yesterday, the military said.

Col. Alexander Macario, commander of the anti-terror Special Operations Task Force-Basilan, said the attackers led by a certain Otoh, belonging to the group of Radzmer Temmeng Jannatul, a sub-leader of the Abu Sayyaf, fired on a house in Barangay Benembengan at around 5 a.m.

Government militiamen, in a nearby detachment, responded, triggering a firefight. “The troopers responded to protect the community,” Macario said. – With Jaime Laude