A Philippine 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.
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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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