Fighting Breaks Out In Basilan Island In South RP

BASILAN (Mindanao Examiner / 23 May) – Philippine troops clashed with gunmen in the southern island of Basilan, where security forces were protecting the canvassing of votes in the recent national and local polls, officials said.

Officials said the fighting occurred late Tuesday in Akbar town after marine soldiers raided a thatched hut in search for illegal weapons.

Other reports said the gunmen were members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group or private armies of local politicians.

Soldiers recovered assorted munitions and a machine gun. There were no reports of arrests, but troops tightened security on the island lorded by political warlords and their goons.

Politicians accused each other of massive cheating and fraud. Just early this week, a grenade attack injured three people at a canvassing area in Lamitan town where ballots from the nearby town of Sumisip were being counted.

Elections in the Philippines are traditionally bloody and violent, with politicians and their armed supporters often clashed in an effort to stay in power. (Mindanao Examiner)