24 January 2016•Update: 24 January 2016
By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
At least three policemen and two government employees were injured Sunday when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a police patrol car in the Philippines’ troubled southern Mindanao
island.Police Chief Inspector Rogelio Alabata, Regional Public Information Office-9 chief, said in a statement that one officer was shot in the head while the other two sustained injuries to their
arms and bodies in Zamboanga del Norte province.“The two employees of the local government who hitched a ride with the police also sustained injuries in their bodies as a result of the attack,"
he said, adding that the victims had been headed to a police station when they were attacked in Sibuco town.
The policemen returned fire, resulting in a five-minute firefight.
According to Alabata, pursuit operations are ongoing against the perpetrators who retreated toward the neighboring village of Lakiki.
Authorities are still determining what group the gunmen belong to.
A number of armed groups are known to operate out of the Philippines’ south, including the communist New People’s Army insurgency and several Muslim rebel groups fighting for autonomy, as
well as the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf.
