Manili massacre | |
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Part of the Moro conflict | |
Location | Manili, Carmen, North Cotabato, Philippines |
Coordinates | 7°23′N 124°49′E / 7.38°N 124.82°E |
Date | June 19, 1971 (UTC +8) |
Target | Filipino Muslims |
Attack type | Mass shooting |
Weapons | Small arms, hand grenade, bladed weapons |
Deaths | 70[1] |
Injured | 17[1] |
Perpetrators | Ilaga |
Motive | Revenge killing in retaliation for purported killing of Christians in earlier incidents[2] |
The Manili massacre refers to the mass murder of 70 Moro Muslims, including women and children, committed in a mosque in Manili, Carmen, North Cotabato, Philippines on June 19, 1971.[3][2] The Muslim residents of the town had gathered in their mosque to participate in a supposed peace talk with Christian groups when a group of armed men dressed in uniforms similar to those worn by members of the Philippine Constabulary opened fire on them.[2]
It was suspected that the Ilaga militant group were the attack's perpetrators,[1] but there were also allegations that the Philippine Constabulary had collaborated with the Ilaga. No one was found culpable for the incident; Feliciano Lucas, also known as "Commander Toothpick", the Ilaga leader who was the prime suspect in the crime, was released after he "surrendered" to Ferdinand Marcos at the Malacañang Palace.[1] The incident resulted in increased hostilities between Moro Muslims and Christians.[4] In response to the incident, former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi provided military aid to the secessionist group Moro National Liberation Front.[4][5]