<p>Police in the Philippines killed 13 members of a criminal gang in a shootout on Sunday, the third violent incident within days amid widespread calls for stricter gun controls.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The battle erupted after the gunmen in two vehicles tried to smash through a police checkpoint near the town of Atimonan, according to the national police headquarters’ operations centre.<br /><br />A police statement said one senior police officer was wounded and taken to hospital. It said 10 firearms were recovered from the gang members, including an M16 assault rifle.<br /><br />No other details of the incident in the town 173 km southeast of Manila were available.<br />The incident occurred two days after a drug-crazed former village official went on a shooting rampage, killing seven people and wounding 12 others, some of whom have life-treatening injuries.<br /><br />Rolando Bae was himself killed in a subsequent shootout with police. Also last week two children aged seven and four were killed by stray bullets fired during celebratory gunfire to welcome the New Year.<br /><br />The incidents triggered public condemnation and calls for stricter controls on gun ownership, with official statistics estimating nearly 600,000 unlicensed guns across the Philippines. <br />Some 1.2 million licensed firearms were on the registry as of 2012.</p>
<p>Police in the Philippines killed 13 members of a criminal gang in a shootout on Sunday, the third violent incident within days amid widespread calls for stricter gun controls.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The battle erupted after the gunmen in two vehicles tried to smash through a police checkpoint near the town of Atimonan, according to the national police headquarters’ operations centre.<br /><br />A police statement said one senior police officer was wounded and taken to hospital. It said 10 firearms were recovered from the gang members, including an M16 assault rifle.<br /><br />No other details of the incident in the town 173 km southeast of Manila were available.<br />The incident occurred two days after a drug-crazed former village official went on a shooting rampage, killing seven people and wounding 12 others, some of whom have life-treatening injuries.<br /><br />Rolando Bae was himself killed in a subsequent shootout with police. Also last week two children aged seven and four were killed by stray bullets fired during celebratory gunfire to welcome the New Year.<br /><br />The incidents triggered public condemnation and calls for stricter controls on gun ownership, with official statistics estimating nearly 600,000 unlicensed guns across the Philippines. <br />Some 1.2 million licensed firearms were on the registry as of 2012.</p>