ATIMONAN, Philippines — Filipino army special forces and police killed 13 suspected criminals in a fierce gun battle Sunday in a northeastern province in the latest violence in the country in recent days.
A police officer was wounded in the shootout, which raged for about 20 minutes in the coastal town of Atimonan in Quezon province, about 90 miles southeast of Manila, the capital, according to the police and the army.
The gunmen, who were riding in two black sport utility vehicles, opened fire on more than 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.
Two gunmen jumped out of one of the SUVs and fired from a roadside canal. The rest stayed in the two vehicles, which were raked by gunfire from troops in a sparsely populated stretch of the highway, Abang said. The area was closed off to traffic and then reopened late Sunday, with the two bullet-riddled SUVs still partially blocking the dark highway.
Quezon provincial Police Chief Valeriano de Leon said 11 gunmen died at the scene of the clash. Two others died while being taken to a hospital, he said, adding that government forces recovered two assault rifles and 12 pistols used by the gunmen.
“They rolled down their windows and started firing, so we had to retaliate,” Abang said by cell phone 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.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/07/2013