Three Islamic clerics dead in NCotabato ambush

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Gunmen killed three Moro Islamic missionaries in an ambush Sunday at a busy portion of the Cotabato-Davao Highway in Baguer area in Libungan town, police said.

The fatalities, clerics Usman Badtingao, Abdullah Usman, and Abdullah Guiamel, all residents of Campo Muslim in Cotabato City, died from gunshot wounds in different parts of their bodies.

Senior Inspector Bernard Tayong, chief of the Libungan municipal police, said the victims were riding separate motorcycles on their way to an Islamic religious forum in Pikit, North Cotabato when they were attacked.

The three preachers were killed by unidentified gunmen riding motorcycles that trailed behind and  as they got close, opened fire  at the victims.

A companion of the victims, Abdulrakman Andalit, also a preacher, survived the attack unscathed.

Andalit told investigators he and his slain neighbors have no known enemies and that he was surprised why they were waylaid in Barangay Baguer in Libungan, which is more than 30 kilometers from Cotabato City.

Tayong said investigators will also question relatives of the slain missionaries on the possible motives for the attack.