2 people killed in clan wars in Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - Two people died when armed tribesmen attacked a village in the southern Philippines over the weekend, the military said today.

The latest killing that occurred in Mindanao's Davao del Sur province was blamed on clan revenge, after 10 other people were killed in a separate spate of clan war in the country's southern region late last week.

The latest attack happened in Kimlawis village, Kiblawan town as about a dozen gunmen belonging to the B'laan tribe shot and killed two farmers at 9 a.m., according to Captain William Rodriguez, spokesman of the Philippine army's 1003rd Infantry Brigade.   

"The suspects shot and killed a 20-year old B'laan farmer who was tending to his farm animals. The gunmen also cut off the victim's left hand, before opening fire toward a nearby hut, killing another young local farmer," Rodriguez told Xinhua in a statement.

He said armed residents responded and exchanged fire with the attackers who fled as police and soldiers were coming.

Investigations by police revealed the attackers who were from the nearby Malungon township carried out the killings to avenge the death of one of their leader's sons.   "The suspects carried out 'almilew', a tribal act of revenge killing,"said Rodriguez, adding that the victims were killed in random, as they lived in the community where the suspects'kin had been supposedly killed.

Clan wars are common in gun-awash tribal communities in southern Philippines, where leftist and Islamic insurgencies are also active.

Almost a dozen people have reportedly been killed as two influential Muslim families in Mindanao's Lanao del Sur province figured in"rido" or clan war since Friday, authorities said.