Three civilians were killed while dozens were wounded in an ambush suspectedly staged by Al Qaeda-linked militants in southern Philippine island of Basilan on Monday, local police said.

The victims were employees of a local company who were on board a pick-up truck passing through Tairan village of Lantawan town. They were "rained with bullets" by heavily armed militants, the police report said.

Authorities suspected that the ambush was carried out by the radical Abu Sayyaf group, a fraction of which is currently under military siege to free two foreign Red Cross hostages in nearby Jolo island, Xinhua reported.