Four Muslims shot dead in southern Philippines
A Muslim father and three of his children were killed after gunmen broke into their house and shot them early Monday morning in the southern Sulu province of Philippines, according to media reports.
A police report said that the Ayub family was asleep in the island town of Banguingi when three men armed with M-16 rifles barged in and fired on all the occupants around 1 a.m. (GMT1800 Sunday).
Those killed were the father Junaid Ayub, 52 year-old, and children Adzani, 3; Auja, 16, and Almasin, 10.
Two other children, Alnaid, 15 and Rene, 9, were wounded and taken to Zamboanga city hospital for treatment.
From its side police officer Sherwin Ladja said an investigation had indicated that three men carried out the attack, noting at the same time that the killers after the incident had fled aboard a motorized outrigger.
Police are still looking for a motive for the attack.
It is worth mentioning that Sulu province is a stronghold of the Al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf group, while a majority of the locals possess high-powered firearms.
Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles, have carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions.
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