Cotabato, September 05: A soldier began firing inside an army camp in the southern Philippines, killing two of his comrades, an army spokesman said Saturday.
Five other soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel and a major, received gunshot wounds in the incident, which occurred late Friday inside the army headquarters in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce said.
Ponce said the suspect, identified as Top Sergeant Policarpio de la Cruz, was seriously wounded when he was shot by other soldiers and was being treated at a nearby hospital under heavy guard.
Ponce added that other soldiers said de la Cruz was having behavioural problems before the shootings.
Thousands of government troops have been deployed in Maguindanao and nearby provinces to conduct pursuit operations against three renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front commanders who led attacks on towns and villages in August last year.
More than 300 people were killed in the attacks and subsequent clashes while more than 500,000 were displaced at the height of the fighting.
—Agencies