MANILA: Philippine police said on Thursday they were investigating the murder of a Saudi national, who was shot dead in an ambush attack in the country’s south.
The incident took place on Tuesday evening, when the man was driving with his wife and her brother on a busy public road in Shariff Aguak municipality, Maguindanao province, in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Two gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on them, killing the Saudi citizen and wounding his spouse.
The Saudi Embassy in Manila has identified the victim as Sulaiman Jamal and said it was “following up very carefully on the condition of (Jamal’s) injured wife after she was transferred to a hospital near the scene of the accident.”
Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, BARMM police regional director, told Arab News that police were determining the motive behind the murder.
“They were tailed by motorcycle-riding suspects … The investigation is still ongoing,” he said. “Jamal sustained a gunshot wound to his left ear that resulted in his instantaneous death.”
Jamal’s wife “is still in critical condition,” Shariff Aguak Police Chief Maj. Haron Macabanding told Arab News, as officers were trying to establish the identity of the suspects.
“My investigator went to the hospital … but she cannot talk.”
The incident took place on a national highway and many vehicles were passing by as the suspects shot at Jamal’s car.
“There are eyewitnesses, but they are afraid to talk, to reveal information to the police. But we are convincing them to tell the truth if they witnessed the incident,” Macabanding said.
“At the time of the incident, there was a power interruption, so it was dark in the area.”
According to police records, Jamal and his wife settled in Maguindanao last year, Macabanding said, adding that they were “engaged in helping people who are in need.”
