Two soldiers wounded in Basilan gun attack

COTABATO CITY — Gunmen wounded two off-duty soldiers while at a roadside store in Tipo-Tipo town in Basilan on Monday.

Officials of the Basilan Provincial Police Office and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) identified the wounded soldiers as Pfc. Mark Antony D. Libo and Pfc. Jomare L. Sadjail of the Army’s 45th Infantry Battalion (IB), now both confined to a hospital.

Citing reports by police units in Basilan, Brig. Gen. Jaysen C. De Guzman, director of PRO-BAR, said on Monday that Mr. Libo and Mr. Sadjail were about to leave the store where they procured some provisions, when one of two men riding a motorcycle came close to shoot them repeatedly with a pistol. The duo immediately left amid the commotion.

The wounded Mr. Lido and Mr. Sadjail, both assigned to the nearby base of the Bravo Company of the 45th IB, were immediately brought by emergency responders to a hospital in Lamitan City for treatment.

Governor Mujiv S. Hataman, chairman of the multi-sector Basilan Provincial Peace and Order Council, has condemned the incident and ordered local executives to help investigators from the Tipo-Tipo Municipal Police Station and Army intelligence agents identify the perpetrators of the atrocity for prosecution.

Mr. De Guzman said barangay officials in Tipo-Tipo have assured to help the police put a closure to the incident. — John Felix M. Unson