COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 23, 2011) – Two people were killed and five others wounded in a grenade attack late Wednesday in the southern Philippines, army officials said.
Officials said the attack occurred at around 7.30 p.m. just outside a village hall in Nalin in North Cotabato’s Midsayap town. Two people were killed on the spot by the powerful blast that also left five others wounded, said Colonel Noel dela Cruz, a spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division.
“A hand grenade was lobbed near the vicinity of the barangay hall in Nalin by an unidentified man riding on a motorcycle that resulted to the death of two persons and wounding of least five other people,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
No individual claimed responsibility for the attack and authorities were still investigating the motives, Dela Cruz said.
“We have alerted soldiers manning checkpoints in the town about the assailant,” he said.
Just last week, a grenade attack at a small carnival in North Cotabato’s Carmen town left one person dead and over 20 others wounded.
In July, three people were also wounded following a grenade blast at a market in Makilala town in North Cotabato province. A motorcycle riding man tossed the hand grenade at a crowd and fled.
Grenade and gun attacks are not uncommon in many parts of the southern Philippines where security forces are battling communist and Muslim insurgents. Crime syndicates and kidnap for ransom gangs also operate in the restive region. (Mindanao Examiner)
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