ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 4, 2008) – One person was killed after a navy patrol boat fired on a group of fishermen off Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, reports said on Wednesday.
Navy soldiers also arrested ten fishermen, all of them Muslims, near the coastal village of Taluksangay. Reports said the fishermen were attacked on Tuesday.
Navy officials did not give any statement about the incident, but village leaders claimed the victims were all fishermen. No other details were available.
In February, navy commandos and army soldiers also killed seven Muslim civilians and an off-duty soldier in a raid on an alleged Abu Sayyaf hideout in the town of Maimbung in Sulu province.
The military insisted the raid was an operation to rescue kidnapped businesswoman Rosalie Lao from her Abu Sayyaf abductors. The raid resulted to the deaths of seven civilians, including two children, two teenagers, and a pregnant woman.
The slain civilians were identified as Marisa Payian, 4; Wedme Lahim, 9; Alnalyn Lahim, 15; Sulayman Hakob, 17; Kirah Lahim, 45; Eldisim Lahim, 43; Narcia Abon, 24. Two soldiers were also killed while four others were wounded when armed villagers allegedly retaliated to the attacking government troops.
In a report, Commission on Human Rights Regional Director Jose Manuel Mamauag denied that there was Abu Sayyaf militant in the village during the raid. He also accused the troops involved in the operation of plundering the houses of the villagers.
Mamauag has recommended the filing of criminal charges against the raiding soldier, who are mostly members of the elite and US-trained Army Light Reaction Company and the Navy’s Special Warfare Group.
For their part, the military has ordered a separate probe on the killings.
Reps. Yusop Jikiri (Sulu) and Mujiv Hataman (Basilan) have separately called for a congressional investigation into the incident. Hataman described the killings as "despicable, loathsome and ruthless. (Mindanao Examiner)
No comments:
Post a Comment