Incident Summary:
02/19/2003: At around 7:45PM local time, about 50 armed men, believed by local officials to be from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), invaded the village of Poblacion in Zamboanga del Norte Province, Philippines. They ordered residents to assemble together, then opened fire. They killed 14 civilians, including 5 children. Afterwards, at least ten houses, including the community center, were riddled with M-60 machine gun fire and grenades, setting them on fire. Some residents were shot as they tried to extinguish the fires. A Philippine Military source said that the armed perpetrators were from MILF's 403rd Brigade under commander Tarasas Solam. After the massacre, the armed men retreated westward. The Philippine Army arrived in pursuit at 9:20PM. The village and its environs are predominantly Christian, whereas MILF is a Islamic-oriented organization. A MILF spokesman denied responsibility for the attacks, and added that any retaliaton on their part would be against military rather than civilian targets.
Overview
GTD ID:
200302190002
When:
2003-02-19
Country:
Philippines
Region:
Southeast Asia
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Zamboanga del Norte
City:
Unknown
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Village of Poblacion |
Specific Description |
Villagers of Poblacion |
Nationality of Target |
Philippines |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
Explosives |
Grenade |
Weapon Details |
M-60 machine guns and grenades were reportedly used in the attack. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The attack comes in the midst of an escalation in fighting between MILF and the Philippine Army in the southern provinces of the Philippines. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
50 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
14 Fatalities / 6 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
14 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
6 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
Unknown |
Sources
Sources
"Gunmen kill 14 in raid on Philippine village; one person killed in separate bomb attack," AP, February 20, 2003. |
"Suspected Muslim rebels bomb power pylons in southern Philippines," AP, February 20, 2003. |
Felipe F. Salvos II and Allen V. Estabillo, "MILF guerillas kill 14 civilians in Z. Norte (Followed by separate bomb blasts in Cotabato, Maguindanao)," Business World (Philippines), February 21, 2003. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties