MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) An employee of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) was shot dead by a lone gunman in Maguindanao province Thursday, police said on Friday.

Nestor Bulahan, a Unicef employee assigned in Cotabato, died due to a gunshot wound on the abdomen, according to a police report from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

Bulahan was on board a tricycle and was about to meet a friend at the Old Parang Terminal, Poblacion 2, Parang town at around 10:30 a.m. when he was approached by the gunman and was shot at close range, police said.

The victim was rushed to the Cotabato City Regional and Medical Center for treatment but died.

Pursuit operations for the lone suspect who fled after the incident were immediately launched.

Parang is 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Ampatuan, a town where gunmen allegedly under the orders of a local politician abducted and killed at least 57 people on Monday.

Police gave no details to indicate Bulahan's murder was linked to the massacre.

"We do not know the motive yet," regional police spokesman Superintendent Sigfried Ramos told Agence France-Presse.

However it occurred after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed Maguindanao and nearby Cotabato City under a state of emergency following the massacre.

Authorities had insisted emergency rule, plus an influx of thousands of troops, had brought the area under control.

Unicef released a short statement on Friday confirming an employee had been shot but giving few details other than that the incident was not believed to be linked to his work.

"A Unicef staff member was shot yesterday. We cannot confirm his identity or current state," its spokeswoman in the Philippines Angela Travis said in the statement.

"He was not on official duty when the incident happened and the incident is believed to be personal."