Three shot dead, 15 wounded ahead of polls in Philippine Muslim enclave
Three people were killed and 15 wounded in a shooting incident in Cotabato City, Philippines, just hours before the region's first parliamentary elections. The violence occurred between rival political factions, prompting increased security measures across the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
Why it matters
The incident threatens the stability of a long-awaited peace process in a region historically marred by political violence and family feuds.
COTABATO, (Philippines): Three people were killed and 15 others wounded as gunfire erupted hours before polls were to open Monday (Sept 14) in a semi-autonomous Muslim region of the Philippines set to choose its first elected parliament.
The vote is the culmination of an on-off peace process that began in the late 1990s and established the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in the country's far south.
Cotabato police chief Jibin Bongcayao said the shooting took place just before midnight as members of rival political factions jostled for the right to cast their votes first.
"It started as a struggle for position in the queue between two groups," Bongcayao said of the shooting outside a school being used as a polling station in the regional capital.
"It led to shoving, escalated into a fistfight, and eventually gunfire broke out in a crowded area."
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