ZAMBOANGA CITY – At least 7 marines were wounded in a roadside bombing Thursday in southern Philippines where security forces are battling Abu Sayyaf rebels, officials said.
Officials said the blast hit the convoy of the Marine Landing Team 10 while on its way to Talipao town in the restive Muslim autonomous region. The soldiers were airlifted to Zamboanga City after getting initial medical emergency in the province.
It was not immediately known why the military failed to prevent the bombing despite a series of Abu Sayyaf attacks on government troops in the area. Officials said the improvised explosive was planted on the side of the road in the village of Lagtoh and detonated while the convoy of trucks was passing the area.
The military has sent thousands of troops in the region to fight the Abu Sayyaf ahead of the May elections.
Just recently, Abu Sayyaf rebels also detonated an improvised explosive at a karaoke bar outside an army base in Jolo town. The blast damaged the bar in Busbus village, but there were no casualties.
The attack occurred despite a tight military and police security in the town following a foiled bombing of a police car parked near a busy area in Jolo late last month.
Two men on motorcycle left the improvised explosive on the patrol car while it was parked in Street 6 on the village of Kasalamatan. The prowl car belongs to the members of the 6th Maneuver Platoon of the Provincial Public Safety Company who were unaware of the bomb.
A civilian, who discovered the improvised bomb, informed the military about the explosive which immediately radioed the police before it could explode. A witness said two men on a black motorcycle left a black backpack containing the explosive and hurriedly escape.
Police and soldiers cordoned off the area and the army carefully disarmed the improvised explosive device.
The Abu Sayyaf had previously bombed the police headquarters in Jolo several times in the past, and also attacked military and civilian targets there in recent years. The notorious group has recently pledged allegiance with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and vowed to put up a strict Muslim state in the southern Philippines.
Security forces also foiled recently an Abu Sayyaf bombing in Isabela City in the restive province of Basilan which is also under the Muslim autonomous region, is a major stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf. (With a report from E. Dumaboc)
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