MANILA — About 30 hooded attackers, believed to be Abu Sayyaf militants, shot and hacked horrified victims as they ran for their lives in the southern Philippines, police said Thursday.
Four people died and six were wounded in the ambush on a village road.
The suspected al-Qaida linked militants apparently were trying to divert government troops from a weeks long offensive in a nearby town, said Antonio Mendoza, police chief for the island province of Basilan.
Most of the victims were commuters in a passenger jeep going home from Basilan’s capital of Isabela City.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 06/25/2010