ZAMBOANGA CITY, 3 February 2005 — At least eight people were killed in a week-long gun battle between two feuding Muslim clans in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, officials said yesterday.
Officials said the fighting broke out in the town of Luuk on Jan. 24 and sporadic clashes have already killed at least eight people on both sides.
It was not immediately known what triggered the violence, but officials said the motive of the fighting was political rivalry as leaders of the protagonists are known politicians in the town. One of them, identified only as Angao, a councilor, was killed in the fighting.
“The fighting have already left eight people dead on both sides. We have given the protagonists an ultimatum and we will arrest all of them if they don’t lay down their arms and stop fighting,” the island’s military commander Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala told the Arab News.
The skirmishes temporarily stopped on Tuesday after Gen. Dema-ala met with the leaders of the warring groups in Luuk. Troops were also sent to the town and put up checkpoints to prevent the entry of illegal weapons.
Blood feud, locally known as “rido”, is common in the southern Philippines and in many instances, the violence could drag on for years, sometimes even for decades, with the killings targeting every member of a feuding family or clan.
The violence only stops if both warring groups agree to settle their feud amicably, usually after paying each other blood money to compensate for the loss of lives or damage to their properties and animals.
