Friday, April 14, 2007 Sulu fighting ceases, says Navy official By Bong Garcia
RESIDENTS have started returning to their respective homes after the peace and order situation in the island town of Tongkil in Sulu province normalized.
Two people were killed while seven others, including a policeman, were wounded when fighting broke out between followers of politicians who are candidates for the May 14 polls.
Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) Chief Emilio Marayag Jr. said the situation returned to normal after the police managed to pacify the fighting between the two groups.
Marayag said those who intervened were local government officials who were ferried by a navy boat to Tongkil to pacify the protagonists.
Marayag identified the protagonists as followers of incumbent Tongkil Mayor Wahid Sahidulla and mayoralty aspirant Muktar Sahibul.
He said the attackers agreed to withdraw from the site of the fighting in the afternoon of last Wednesday.
The firefight started around 2 a.m. last Monday when allegedly the followers of Sahibul attacked Barangay Sigumbal and torched houses and a Protestant Church in the area.
The attackers then proceeded to the town center and sprayed the municipal hall with automatic rifles.
Some 7,000 residents fled to safer grounds for fear of being caught in the crossfire when the fighting broke out.
Marayag said volunteers from the Philippine National Red Cross who accompanied have attended to the needs of the evacuees.
