8 Killed, 6 injured in clan war in S. Philippines

At least eight people were killed, including a Muslim rebel commander, while six others were injured in a gun battle involving two families in the southern Philippines, the military said on Monday. The clan war broke out on Nov. 3 after the family of Arimao Azum carried out attacks against their rivals Asgar Sangcopan and Apollo Alim clans in Butig town in Lanao del Sur, leaving three people wounded, brigade commander Colonel Daniel Lucero said. The clan war started in 2001 when relatives of Apollo Alim killed a member of the Azum clan. Lucero said the fighting went on and the casualties had risen to eight killed, including a woman, and six wounded. Among those killed was Asgar Sangcopan, a commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front "Both warning clan agreed to suspend fighting to retrieve the wounded and the dead bodies. "We ask local leaders to help in a peaceful negotiation," he said. The warring factions have relatives in the MILF and he has asked international peacekeepers to inform the rebel leadership to help pacify them. In the southern Philippines, clan war is common among warring clans and sometimes the hostilities could last for decades until a peace pact is reached by protagonists, usually through mediation by religious leaders and the payment of blood money.