Soldiers kill 1, hurt 4 in Iligan shooting

ILIGAN CITY - Soldiers belonging to the Army's 30th Infantry Battalion fired at 11 Maranaos aboard a Tamaraw FX at the city's port area at dawn yesterday, killing one and wounding four others, police said.

The soldiers, stationed in Barangay Nangka, Balo-i, Lanao del Norte, were deployed at the port area as part of the Holy Week "red alert."

Police identified the fatality as Owaida Balang, 22, driver of the van, and those wounded as Balang's father Muslimen, Wahab Maulay, Ansal Maolahi and Halem Abdul Jalil. Their five companions survived the shooting.

Initial reports linked the group to a shipment of at least 40 container vans of lumber earlier seized by the anti-smuggling Task Force Aduana.

The shipment's owner, a certain Tawi Ibrahim, filed a case against the task force and the military, and a court order was issued for the lumber's release.

Fidel Macauyag, legal counsel of Ibrahim and the victims, alleged that the attack could be in retaliation for the case they filed against some military officers.

One of the survivors, Sultan Kadayonan Bataban, denied that their group had anything to do with the lumber shipment.

"We were at the port area to see some relatives leave for Manila on board the Super Ferry 5 which left at dawn today," he said.

Initial police investigation showed that the group's Tamaraw FX was headed towards the port area's exit gate when at least six soldiers sprayed it with Armalite bullets.

The van's driver was killed on the spot, causing the vehicle to crash into a building. Those wounded and the survivors jumped out of the van and ran towards the Customs' office to seek cover, while the soldiers continued to fire at them, one of the survivors recounted.

The STAR called up the 402nd Infantry Brigade but the officers on duty could not give any statement on the incident.