Suspected Muslim rebels, firing grenade launchers, raided a tourist island in the southern Philippines, killing two Filipinos and snatching a boat with two local crew, police said Wednesday.
Three resort workers were wounded but none of the more than 100 foreign and local tourists were hurt in the shootout just before midnight Tuesday near Pearl Farm resort on Samal island, 600 miles south of Manila, a police spokesman said.
The shootout occurred a little over a year after Muslim separatists seized dozens of foreigners and Filipinos from nearby Malaysian tourist resorts and from the southern Philippine island of Jolo, sparking a months-long hostage crisis that damaged investor confidence in the Philippines.
The two fatalities, both Filipinos, were a resort guard and a mechanic who were killed in an explosion when the raiders blew up a speed boat of the resort before they fled, officials said.
``Based on evidence we gathered, they belonged to Muslim separatist groups,' Captain Michael John Dubria told Reuters -- DAVAO, Philippines (Reuters)
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