Unidentified gunmen on Monday seized a passenger bus in the southern Philippines and took at least 40 people hostage, authorities said. The bus was traveling between Cotabatao City and Davao on the southern island of Mindanao when the unidentified gunmen fired on the vehicle and forced about 40 passengers to leave the bus on the road, said Farida Malingco, mayor of the town of Dalengawen, where the incident happened. “The bus is still in custody at this very minute,” she told a local radio station. “The military and police are in the area. They we are waiting for the next move of this bandits. We cannot just move in because they are holding civilians.” Authorities suspected the gunmen could be bandits or the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front. 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. Malingco said initial reports suggested the raid was carried out by “lawless elements” and similar incidents have happened in the past. Full Story
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