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The mayor of a town in the Philippines escaped unharmed after his armoured vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) during an ambush on Sunday morning.
The attack on Mayor Akmad Ampatuan occurred in Shariff Aguak, a town of approximately 30,000 people in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
🇵🇠The mayor of a small town in the Philippines survived an RPG attack on his vehicle
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 26, 2026
Heavily armed attackers ambushed the convoy of Shariff Aguak Mayor Akmad Mitra Ampatuan. A rocket struck his armored Toyota Land Cruiser, but the driver managed to steer the damaged,… pic.twitter.com/eyVh7oLh70
This marks the fourth attempt on Ampatuan's life, following previous assassination attempts in 2010, 2014, and 2019.
CCTV footage shared by the municipal government on social media shows a white van stopping along a roadway at around 6.30 am. Two men are then seen emerging from the vehicle; one opens fire with an automatic rifle while the other launches a rocket-propelled grenade. The projectile appears to strike the mayor’s armoured Toyota Land Cruiser, which is briefly engulfed in smoke before driving away.
Local media reported that Ampatuan was unharmed, though two members of his security detail were treated for minor abdominal injuries.
The suspects fled the scene and were later cornered in a nearby municipality, where they engaged in a shootout with security forces. Three of the four suspects were killed in the exchange, according to authorities.
Police identified the leader of the attack as Budtong “Rap-Rap” Pendatun, who was accompanied by a cousin and an uncle. A fourth suspect, identified as Pendatun's sibling, remains at large.
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