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DPA
Manila
Two children were killed and four were wounded when a mortar shell hit their house in the southern Philipines, as the country’s Muslim minority marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan, police said Monday.
The explosion occurred on Sunday afternoon in Dauti Saudi Ampatuan town in the Maguindanao province, some 920 kilometres south of Manila, said Melvin Laguting, the municipality’s chief of police.
One of the victims, a 10-year-old girl, was outside of the house when the 81-millimetre mortar hit and exploded, killing her on the spot, Laguting said.
Her seven-year-old brother died in hospital, while their parents and two other siblings were hurt in the explosion.
Laguting said investigators were still determining where the mortar came from and what the motive was for the attack, adding that it seemed the house of the family was targeted.
Islamist militants operate in the province and have been blamed for past mortar attacks.
Government troops also use mortar shelling against militants and other criminal groups in the province and the conflict-wracked southern region of Mindanao.
Manila
Two children were killed and four were wounded when a mortar shell hit their house in the southern Philipines, as the country’s Muslim minority marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan, police said Monday.
The explosion occurred on Sunday afternoon in Dauti Saudi Ampatuan town in the Maguindanao province, some 920 kilometres south of Manila, said Melvin Laguting, the municipality’s chief of police.
One of the victims, a 10-year-old girl, was outside of the house when the 81-millimetre mortar hit and exploded, killing her on the spot, Laguting said.
Her seven-year-old brother died in hospital, while their parents and two other siblings were hurt in the explosion.
Laguting said investigators were still determining where the mortar came from and what the motive was for the attack, adding that it seemed the house of the family was targeted.
Islamist militants operate in the province and have been blamed for past mortar attacks.
Government troops also use mortar shelling against militants and other criminal groups in the province and the conflict-wracked southern region of Mindanao.
