Filipino mayor unharmed after apparent RPG attack on car in broad daylight
A Filipino mayor escaped unharmed after an apparent rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on his convoy in broad daylight Sunday in the southern province of Maguindanao del Sur, authorities said.
The Philippine News Agency (PNA), the country’s state-run news outlet, reported that Mayor Akmad Ampatuan was inside a bulletproof vehicle when the attack occurred at around 6:30 a.m.
Video of the incident shows two men stepping out of a white van, one holding what appears to be an RPG and another carrying a gun.
One of the men then lowers the launcher and aims it down the street.
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He fires the weapon before jumping back into the vehicle, moments before a black SUV turns onto the road and is struck by the blast.
PNA reported that the mayor’s backup vehicle, a pickup, was also hit by gunfire during the attack.
Police and military forces later killed three suspected attackers in a pursuit.
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The motive for the attack was not immediately known.
“The mayor is safe,” Anwar Kuit Emblawa, the mayor’s executive assistant, told the PNA.
Two members of Ampatuan’s security detail were injured, though their wounds were not life-threatening.
The outlet said the mayor has survived two previous assassination attempts in the past five years.
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