Village official killed after Eid’l Adha celebration in Basilan

ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Eid’l Adha celebration turned bloody when unidentified men attacked a village official and his companion in Isabela City in Basilan on Monday morning.

Superintendent Jerome Afuyog, Isabela City police chief, said politics could be behind the killing of Omar Asahad and the wounding of Hairuddin Tahir.

Asahad was the newly proclaimed barangay chair of Mebak village in Sumisip town. He won a protest and was about to be installed on Tuesday.

Initial investigation showed that Asahad, Tahir, and Asahad’s driver Pelayo Buenbrazo were on a motorbike going home after attending the dawn prayer for Eid’l Adha when they were attacked in the village of La Piedad in Isabela City at 7:25 a.m., Afuyog said.

The suspects, who were on another motorbike, used a .45 caliber pistol.

Tahir was hit in the back, while Buenbrazo was unhurt. JE/rga