BASILAN – An improvised explosive went off at a school in Lamitan City in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, but there were no reports of casualties or injuries, police said Tuesday.
Police said the blast late Monday destroyed one of the rooms of the Dangkalan Elementary School. The powerful explosion occurred just as troops recovered another improvised explosive in Tipo-Tipo town.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the blast in Lamitan City and the foiled bombing in the town, but the Abu Sayyaf and Malaysian jihadists are actively operating in Basilan, one of five provinces under the troubled Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Lamitan has been bombed many times in the past by the Abu Sayyaf, which is fighting for Islamic caliphate in southern Philippines.
Fighting between the rebels and security forces continue in Basilan, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City.
On Monday, security forces also captured Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Esmael Pingli in the town of Tungawan in Zamboanga Sibugay province, about 100 kilometers east of here.
Authorities have implicated Pingli to many ransom kidnappings in the region and is currently being interrogated in Zamboanga City. (Mindanao Examiner)
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