Gunmen open fire in NCotabato, 11-y.o. girl hurt

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines – Gunmen armed with assault rifles opened fire on a village in Kibayao District in Carmen town Friday night, seriously wounding an 11-year-old girl and sending other settlers running for their lives.

The Carmen municipal police said the child, daughter of a peasant named Mokaher Kagui, was rushed by responding barangay officials to a hospital for medication.

Investigators said the gunmen, believed to be members of clan locked in squabbles for strategic parcels of lands in Kibayao with another family, fled to different directions after the shooting frenzy.

The attack caused panic in the surroundings and forced the Kagui family and their neighbors to relocate to safer areas.

Local officials have dispatched policemen to Kibayao to guard against a possible repeat of the attack.