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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

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A man casts his vote on Monday at a polling station in Manila for the Philippines’ presidential election. Photo: AFP
Three security guards were killed on Monday when gunmen opened fire at a polling station in a restive region of the southern Philippines, police said, as millions of Filipinos voted in national elections.
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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.

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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.

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