Cop killed in latest Zambo City shooting

ZAMBOANGA CITY (AFP) — Gunmen killed a city policeman yesterday, the latest in a string of execution-style killings that have targeted authorities the past week.

Police officer Rodrigo Deza was on a motorcycle when he was shot from behind by two gunmen who had tailed him, also using a motorcycle, on a busy road in this port city.

"He was shot in the head," Zamboanga police chief Jose Gucela said, adding that a manhunt for the killers was underway.

Deza’s service pistol was missing, but his M-16 automatic rifle was recovered from the crime scene, he said.

Deza is the latest victim in a string of killings to have hit the city over the past week.

Last Friday, a government soldier, Carlito Alvarez, and a Muslim employee of the Air Transportation Office, Abdulgafar Udin, were killed in separate attacks.

Alvarez was riding a motorcycle when he was shot several times in the head, while Udin was shot in the chest at least 13 times as he was walking to work.

Two policemen were killed in a similar attack last Tuesday, while the previous day, a soldier and a civilian companion were killed when gunmen attacked their apartment.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Gucela said police were already on the trail of "suspects" he did not name.

The killings came amid heightened security in Mindanao after bomb attacks earlier this month, blamed on Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah militants, killed 12 and injured dozens.

Abu Sayyaf militants have in the past slipped into Zamboanga City to carry out bombings and kidnappings.

The Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah are both on the US government’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.