Philippines displaced caught in cross-fire

A blood feud between rival families has left a village in troubled Maguindanao province destroyed and residents with no permanent place to call home.

Villagers in one of the province's towns were roused from sleep by armed men who opened fire indiscriminately, took their belongings and set the village on fire, forcing residents to flee.

As Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports, decades of insurgency and lawlessness have led to a proliferation of fire arms and such instances of self-imposed justice are not uncommon. [July 23, 2010]