Six people were shot dead by gunmen who raided a remote Philippine village Thursday in apparent retaliation for the killing of a bandit leader, the military said.
About 10 gunmen attacked several homes at a farm on the southern island of Mindanao, targeting relatives of a police aide and killing six of them, regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang said.
The attack on Tininghalang village followed the killing nearby on February 11 of bandit leader Samang Andi, who was tracked down by police with the help of police aide Dencio Tabayag.
"The Tininghalang victims are relatives of Tabayag, who helped the police get Samang," the military spokesman told reporters.
A brother of the bandit chief led the attack on the village, Cabangbang added.
Police accuse the Samang gang of being behind a range of lawless activities in the area, Cabangbang said, but did not cite specific crimes.
Armed groups, including former rebels, engage in kidnapping, highway robbery, and extortion across Mindanao as the security forces fight decades-old Muslim and communist insurgencies as well as Islamist militants.
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