Manila, Mar 10: Gunmen believed to be Muslim separatist rebels seized a bus in the southern Philippines today and killed one man before fleeing, authorities said. The bus was travelling between Cotabato City and Davao on the southern island of Mindanao when about 200 gunmen fired on the vehicle and forced about 40 passengers into a nearby school, said Mayor Farida Malingco of nearby Pikit town, 920 kilometers southeast of Manila. Officials at the scene said the gunmen introduced themselves as rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, and robbed the passengers of cell phones, money and other belongings. Last week, suspected MILF rebels killed 21 people and injured more than 100 in a bomb blast at Davao airport, the nation's worst terrorist attack in three years. The group has been fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines for three decades.
One passenger, a soldier who was in civilian clothes but had a military ID, was shot in the head and died. A pro-government militiaman was also killed and five villagers wounded as troops, backed by two helicopter gunships, chased the attackers in Takepan village, about two kilometers from the attack site, officials said.
Bureau Report