Ex-Philippine mayor gunned down
MANILA, Philippines—A former town mayor in the strife-torn southern Philippines was shot dead Monday in a brazen attack that also badly wounded his wife, police said.
Najib Maldisa suffered six bullet wounds to his body and died as he was being rushed to hospital after the attack in Zamboanga city on Mindanao island, national police spokesman Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz said.
His wife was in a serious condition, Cruz said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but police said the motive could be local political rivalry.
Maldisa was formerly the mayor of Maimbung town, on nearby Jolo island, a known stronghold of Muslim Abu Sayyaf militants and other local armed gangs.
Political rivalry among Muslim clans is common in many parts of the southern Philippines, where a proliferation of unlicensed firearms has complicated decades of insurgency.
