Basilan town administrator shot

ZAMBOANGA CITY – An unidentified gunman shot and seriously wounded the municipal administrator of Tuburan town in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, reports said Friday.

The 48-year old Anwar Halik was attacked late Thursday in the village called Maganda in Lamitan City where he owns a store. Halik was rushed to hospital in Zamboanga as police were investigating the motive of the shooting.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack which occurred ahead of the local and national polls in May. It was unclear whether the attack was connected to politics or not.

Last December, unidentified gunmen also shot Basilan’s Akbar town Mayor Alih Awal Sali and Al-Barka town Mayor Darussalam Saguindilan Lajid in a daring attack in the seaside village of Baliwasan in Zamboanga City.

Lajid and Sali’s escort Barad Nuruddin were killed in the attack which was reportedly perpetrated by four gunmen.

Police recovered from the scene several bullet shells fired from .45-caliber pistols, but the identities of the attackers and the motive of the shooting remain unknown. After the attack, the gunmen escaped in the labyrinth neighborhood.

Sali and Lajid and their escort just arrived in the village by boat when the gunmen attacked the group. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack. (Mindanao Examiner)