ZAMBOANGA CITY, 18 July 2005 — A municipal vice mayor and three of his bodyguards were killed and three others were seriously injured in an attack by pirates in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, officials said yesterday.
Dinas town vice mayor Abdul Bassit Maula was killed along with his bodyguards in the coastal village of Tarakan, where government militias were battling pirates at sea, said Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, commander of the army’s 1st Infantry Division. Three of Maula’s bodyguards were also wounded.
Habacon said he rushed to Tarakan after learning that pirates onboard three speedboats attacked patrolling militias.
“Pirates and bandits are actively operating in the area and we have been pursuing these gunmen the past months,” he said.
Military intelligence reports have tagged Camel Lao, a pirate leader, as allegedly behind the attack.
Lao’s brother Rumano was killed by security forces in a fierce firefight earlier this year, Habacon said.
Villagers have complained about the rampant extortion and harassment by pirates and bandits in the area.
