Gunmen kill 9 motorcycle riders in southern Philippines

Gunmen stopped a group of motorcycle riders n opened fire with assault rifles in a busy downtown area in sourn Philippines, killing nine people, police said Sunday, in latest violence to roil volatile region.Police officials said attack on victims, who were mostly farmers, at on Saturday in Kabacan town in Cotabato province may have been sparked by a local feud and was likely t an act of terrorism.

Cotabato lies in a poverty-wracked region where a deces-long Muslim separatist insurgency has eased largely due to a 2014 peace deal between Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group and government, although small armed groups aligned with Islamic State group still pose a threat.

Most of victims apparently did t kw each or and were traveling on six motorcycles, some in tandems, when y were blocked by six to eight gunmen and ordered to alight. After getting off ir motorcycles in middle of ro, y were shot 39 times with rifles and pistols, police investigator Delir Parcon said by phone.

Eight of victims were killed instantly and ar died in a hospital, a police report said. gunmen fled in a van. Police have interviewed witnesses and were looking for possible security camera foot that could help identify attackers, police officials said.

“This isn’t likely terrorism,” Parcon said. “We’re looking at angle of a local feud, a personal grudge.”Former Muslim guerrillas who forged an automy deal with government and are w overseeing a nearby Muslim automy region said y would help investigate killings of men, who were all Muslims.“Such senseless violent acts have place in a progressive society, especially at a time when people are in grip of a pandemic,” y said in a statement.

proliferation of large number of unlicensed firearms and or weapons, weak law enforcement in many rural areas and presence of insurgent groups and powerful clans with private armies have combined to foster violence in heartland of south and outlying island provinces. region is homeland of mirity Muslims in largely Roman Catholic nation.

Last Monday, two militant women detonated powerful bombs in separate suicide attacks that killed 15 people, including many soldiers, and wounded more than 70 ors in sourn Jolo town in Sulu province in worst extremist attack in country so far this year.

military blamed an Abu Sayyaf extremist commander, Mundi Sawjaan, for plotting midday suicide attacks, which also killed two attackers, who military said were Filipi widows of Abu Sayyaf militants. Government forces have been deployed to hunt down Sawjaan in militants’ jungle encampments in Sulu.

(Im Credit: AP)