Gunmen wounded a provincial governor and killed four of his bodyguards in an attack on his convoy on Friday in a southern Philippine region with a long history of violent political conflict and Muslim rebellion, authorities said.
Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. was shot in the waist, an aide was wounded in the feet and four bodyguards were killed by heavily armed men as his convoy passed through a village on the border of Lanao del Sur provinces. Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon. the police said.
Adiong and his aide were hospitalized in stable condition, Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, the governor’s brother, said on Facebook.
Authorities did not immediately provide other details, including who was suspected of carrying out the attack.
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A gunman wounded the Philippine governor and killed four of his bodyguards during an attack on his convoy on Friday. (FoxNews)
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“The worst is over. He is out of danger,” Zia Alonto Adiong said. “We implore the authorities to act urgently and use all available legal means to prosecute and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Lanao del Sur is part of a Muslim autonomous region of five provinces in the south of the largely Roman Catholic nation. It is ruled by former Muslim rebels in a transitional arrangement under a 2014 peace pact with the government.
A large number of readily available firearms has often sparked violent political rivalries in the past.
In 2017, hundreds of militants affiliated with the Islamic State group laid siege to the city of Marawi in Lanao. Troops put down the siege after five months in a massive ground offensive backed by airstrikes that left more than 1,000 people dead, mostly militants, and left the mosque-studded city in ruins.
