Zamboanga City, Philippines - A Philippine mayor, his driver and a bodyguard were killed Thursday in an attack by unidentified gunmen, police said.

Karam Jakilan - mayor of Albarkah town in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila - died at the scene of multiple gunshot wounds.

His driver and bodyguard were also killed in the ambush, said the provincial police chief, Superintendent Salik Macapantar.

The attack occurred while Jakilan was travelling near Badja village in Tipo-Tipo town, Macapantar said.

Investigators have not yet established the motive behind the attack, but security forces in the area were placed on high alert for possible retaliatory attacks by the slain mayor's followers.

Basilan is a known lair of al-Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels, who are holding captive three schoolteachers and a midwife in the province. (dpa)