Suspected Muslim separatist rebels seized a bus in the southern Philippines on Monday, and two people were killed before the gunmen escaped, authorities said. The bus was traveling 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, 575 miles southeast of Manila. Officials at the scene said the gunmen introduced themselves as rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and robbed the passengers of mobile phones, money and other belongings. Last week, suspected members of the same rebel group 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. The gunmen fled on Monday as security forces approached about two hours after the seizure, Malingco said. Full Story
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