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Soldier ran amuck, killing five in S. Philippines

Xinhua, October 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Five soldiers, including two junior officers, were killed and nine others injured when a fellow soldier went amuck during a Bible study inside a military installation in south Philippine province of Basilan on Thursday, said the military authorities.

Army spokesman Benjamin Hao said the soldier, Tahiruddinn Taha, a gunner at the mortar section of the Bravo Company of the Army's 64th Infantry Battalion, was shot by responding soldiers.

Hao said the incident occurred at around 8:45 a.m. inside the company headquarters in barangay Upper Cabengbeng of Sumisip town, where a bible study was organized.

In a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo, Hao said Taha was coming from a two-week leave which ended on Oct. 15, to attend to an undisclosed family problem.

"We believe it is an isolated incident but we will look closer into its medical and psychological aspect in order to determine the root cause of the case," he said, adding the Army is sending a medical team to Basilan.

Hao said Taha was among the hundreds of former Moro National Liberation Front rebels who were integrated into the Army as part of the 1996 peace agreement the group signed with the government. Endit