Philippine military blames Islamic group for massacre of 20 Christians

July 18, 2000
Web posted at: 2:51 a.m. HKT (1851 GMT)

MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- Philippine Department of Defense officials have confirmed that 20 Christian villagers were killed in an attack Sunday night at Lanau Del Sur in the southern Philippines.

The attack on the island of Mindanao was carried out by about 500 armed men believed to be members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Captain Roger Riario confirmed that 19 men and one pregnant woman were rounded up and shot at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in the predominantly Christian village. The military first received the report from a local government councilor, who claimed to have escaped from the attack. According to the initial report, the attack was led by two MILF commanders, Commander Malika and Commander Barak.

According to Riario, the gunmen divided into two teams: The first team diverted the attention of a nearby military post, while the second one rounded up villagers for the massacre.

After the attack, the gunmen fled to the mountains. The military has set up a base camp to track them down.

Riario declined to speculate on possible motives for the killings.

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