2 Basilan mayors shot in Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY: Unidentified gunmen shot two municipal mayors of Basilan province outside a mosque, killing one of them in a daring attack in Zamboanga City on Monday morning, reports said.

Reports stated Akbar Mayor Alih Awal Sali and Al-Barka Mayor Darussalam Saguindilan Lajid were rushed to a hospital after sustaining gunshot wounds. However, Lajid and Sali's driver, Barad Nuruddin, were declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.

At least four gunmen were involved in the shooting, which occurred in the seaside village of Baliwasan. They escaped in the labyrinthine neighborhood, leading to the seashore.

"The suspects fled after the commission of the crime with [a] motorized boat and one white car as their [getaway] vehicles," the police said in a statement.

Philippine Naitonal Police chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said he had already directed the area commander of Western Mindanao to coordinate pursuit operations against the suspects.

From the crime scene, police investigators recovered several bullet shells, fired from.45-caliber pistols, but the identities of the attackers and the motive of the shooting were unknown.

It was unknown whether the twin attacks were political in nature, but the shooting came ahead of the local and national elections next year. The victims' families and relatives had yet to issue a statement.

It was unclear what Sali and Lajid were doing in the village, which was a favorite landing site of boats, coming from the province just several nautical miles away from Zamboanga City.

One netizen, Umm Mohammad Rayyan, who commented on a Facebook post of the shootings, wrote, "INNA LILLAHI WA INNA ILAYHI RAJIUN Mayor Darus ng Albarka Basilan Binaril mismo sa Lugar namin sa likod ng Mosque namin 5 shot sa ulo. Sana Mka ligtas c Mayor Alih."

No individual or group had claimed responsibility for the attacks as of press time.

Source: TheManila Times