KIDAPAWAN CITY – An improvised explosive went off in Midsayap in North Cotabato province, south of the Philippines, officials said Monday.
Officials said there were no casualties in the blast Sunday evening, but the bombing occurred 7 hours after another explosive was detonated in General Santos City that left seven people injured. Media reports said the bombing occurred near a police station.
But the army’s 6th Infantry Division said the blast occurred at the Theresa’s Place Videoke Bar in Poblacion 4 just after a military and police patrol passed the area. “No one was hurt in the explosion,” said Captain Arvin Encinas, an army spokesman, blaming the blast to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters under Abu Torayfe.
He said soldiers and policemen recovered bomb debris from the area. “The materials used was aluminum flash powder as main charge placed in a plastic container with cell phone, 9 volts battery and concrete nails as fragmentation and it was concealed in a jersey shirt,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Army photos released to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner show the bar in Midsayap town in North Cotabato province where an improvised explosive went off Sunday evening, Sept. 16, 2018 and the debris recovered by soldiers and policemen. Pro-ISIS militants are believed responsible for the blast.
Encinas said authorities were looking for 3 people who bought soft drinks at the bar. “They were suspected of leaving the bomb at the bar,” he said. “This terror group will launch bombing attacks in urban centers as part of their retaliation against continued military operations,” he added.
In December 2016, a bomb exploded under a police patrol outside a Catholic church in Midsayap town and wounded over a dozen people.
The latest bombing was carried out despite the imposition of martial law in the restive southern region where security forces are battling militants tied to ISIS and communist insurgents.
The attack was seen as a challenge to the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte who ordered the military to destroy militant groups. It was unclear why authorities failed to detect or stop the latest bombing.
Security remains tight in many areas in Mindanao following two recent bombings in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat province that left scores of civilian casualties; and a suicide attack in Lamitan City by a Moroccan ISIS soldier that also killed many soldiers and civilians.
President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law following last year’s deadly siege by pro-ISIS militants in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur province which lasted five months. (Mindanao Examiner. With a report from Rhoderick Benez.)
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