3 security guards shot dead at Philippine polling station, hours after grenade attack wounds 9
- The deadly shooting happened shortly after voting got under way in Buluan municipality on Mindanao island, where a number of armed groups are based
- It came after five grenades exploded outside a polling station in Datu Unsay municipality late on Sunday, leaving nine people wounded
Elections are a traditionally volatile time in a country with lax gun laws and a violent political culture, but police said this season had been comparatively peaceful.
The deadly shooting happened shortly after voting got under way in Buluan municipality on Mindanao island, a haven for multiple armed groups ranging from communist insurgents to Islamist militants.
Former mayor Ibrahim Mangudadatu said that people inside the school being used as a polling station ran for cover when the shooting started.
A fourth guard was wounded in the attack, said Maguindanao provincial police spokesman Major Roldan Kuntong.
It came after five grenades exploded outside a polling station in Datu Unsay municipality late on Sunday, leaving nine people wounded.
Minutes after that attack, a grenade exploded in the neighbouring municipality of Shariff Aguak, but there were no casualties. Both of those towns are also in Maguindanao province.