Three killed and 15 injured in shooting near school as tense Philippines election looms

Three killed and 15 injured in shooting near school as tense Philippines election looms Three people have been killed and 15 others injured in a shooting ahead of an election - the vote is seen as a crucial step in the quest for self-determination Three people have been killed and at least 15 others injured in a shooting incident Cotabato City, in the Philippines, according to reports. Local media outlet GMA reports that a shootout broke out between rival political supporters outside a school on the eve of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections. Initial information shared by the Cotabato City Police Office said the incident occurred around 11.41pm between several armed men in front of Datu Usman Mampen Elementary School in Cotabato City. Footage from the scene showed the flashing lights of an ambulance as heavily armed officials stood nearby. Voters in an autonomous southern Philippine region will cast their ballots Monday in the region's first parliamentary elections. The election is seen as a crucial step in the quest for self-determination and lasting peace after decades of insurgency and violence. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARMM, covers five provinces, three cities and 63 villages across eight special geographic area clusters. It has nearly 2.4 million voters, with election officials aiming for an 80% turnout after polling was postponed for several years. Centuries of colonialism by Spain, the US and Filipino Christian settlers turned Muslims into a minority group in resource-rich Mindanao, the southern third of the Philippine archipelago from which the BARMM was carved out. The region has seen decades of intermittent but bloody conflicts over land, resources and political power. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.