In Todays Paper 13 killed in gunbattle 2 Cops, soldiers clash with armed men in Quezon Army special forces and police killed 13 suspected criminals in a fierce gunbattle Sunday in Luzon in the latest violence to erupt in the country in the last week. A police officer was wounded in the shootout, which took place in the coastal town of Atimonan in Quezon, about 140 kilometers southeast of Manila. The gunmen, who were riding in two black SUVs, opened fire on about 50 army soldiers and police when they were flagged down at a highway checkpoint in Atimonan, sparking the firefight, said Lt. Col. Monico Abang, who led the Army platoon in the clash. Gunmen also fired from a third van but turned around and managed to escape, he said. Quezon provincial police chief Valeriano de Leon said 11 gunmen died at the scene of the clash. Two others died while being brought to a hospital, he said, adding that government forces found two assault rifles and eight pistols used by the gunmen. He said the fatalities were members of a highly organized crime group known for their gun-for-hire activities. “They rolled down their windows and started firing, so we had to retaliate,” Abang said by cellphone from the scene of the clash. “They were clearly outnumbered and outgunned.” A police colonel was shot in the hand and foot and taken to a hospital, de Leon said. Abang said the Army and police set up a checkpoint along the highway after police received a tip-off from an informant that gunmen involved in illegal drugs, gambling and kidnapping for ransom would pass through Atimonan. The shootout followed two other violent incidents that have revived calls for tighter gun control in the country. A man who reportedly was drunk and high on drugs killed eight people before being gunned down by police Friday in Kawit, Cavite. A 7-year-old girl died a day after being hit in the head by a stray bullet while watching fireworks with her family on New Year’s Eve outside their home in Caloocan city, despite a high-profile government campaign against powerful firecrackers and celebratory gunfire by Filipinos to welcome 2013. Meanwhile, in Kidapawan City, police said a powerful bomb had been defused outside the main police station on Sunday. Investigator Ryan Batilo said the bomb, consisting of two 60mm mortar rounds wired to a battery and a cellphone, was found and disarmed near the gate of the police station. Batilo said police closed a main road as ordnance experts defused the bomb, which was wrapped in used clothes. The site is near the city jail, which has come under attack from Muslim militants attempting to free their detained comrades. Police said last month that they had received intelligence of possible bombing plots by Muslime Militants in some southern cities. With Florante S. Solmerin and Francisco Tuyay. Take care all. ( Pasted from another site but relevant from an awareness in paradise angle. )
Soooooooooo glad I was not riding by at the time. Very lucky bystanders were not harmed. Or, were they warned to keep away because the Cops knew this may happen, good thing if so.
