Ten dead across the Philippines in election day violence as gunmen attack polling stations

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A Muslim woman shows her index finger marked with indelible ink after casting her vote inside a school turned into a polling precinct in San Juan City, the Philippines, May 9, 2016. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 3:51pm, 9 May 2016Updated: 3:51pm, 9 May 2016

At least 10 people died across the Philippines in election day violence on Monday, as gunmen attacked polling stations, ambushed vehicles and stole vote counting machines, police said.

However authorities described the violence as isolated incidents and that the overall conduct of the elections – which will see tens of millions of people cast their votes for president and 18,000 other positions – was peaceful.

In the worst attack, seven people were shot dead in an ambush before dawn in Rosario, a town just outside of Manila known for political violence, Chief Inspector Jonathan del Rosario, spokesman for a national police election monitoring task force, said.

Philippine soldiers stand guard amongst voters at a polling station in the town of Pantar, Lanao del Norte province, on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on May 9, 2016 as people vote in the country's presidential election. Photo: AFP

In Guindulungan, a small impoverished town in the strife-torn southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, where warlord-politicians have their own private armies, a voter was shot dead inside a polling station, police said.

Security forces on alert ahead of tense Philippine elections

A bystander was also killed when a grenade was launched at a market in Cotabato, a major city in the south that neighbours Maguindanao, as people were casting their votes, police said.