7 killed in clash of 2 families in Lanao del Sur

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines— At least seven people are dead in Lanao del Sur after two families locked in a longstanding feud battled each other with guns, police said.

Such violent clan conflicts, known as “rido,” have long complicated security worries in the country’s south, which is already mired in decades-long Muslim rebellions. Many of the clan clashes are over political power, land, business and past grudges in far-flung communities awash with guns and burdened by weak law enforcement.

Armed members and followers of the Macugar and Capal families confronted each other late Friday in a village of Bayang town in Lanao del Sur province, sparking a gunbattle that left seven people dead and five others wounded, police officer Ansari Musa said by telephone.

Police and soldiers were deployed to the village about 840 kilometers (520 miles) south of Manila to prevent further bloodshed, Musa said, adding it was not immediately clear what the families were feuding over.