COTABATO CITY – At least 3 army soldiers were injured in a roadside bombing on Saturday in the province of Maguindanao in the troubled Muslim autonomous region in southern Philippines, officials said.
Army Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, a spokeswoman for the 6th Infantry Division, said the blast hit a military truck transporting members of the 40th Infantry Battalion in the village of Timbangan in Shariff Aguak town.
“An IED exploded in the village targeting one M35 truck loaded with troops of the 40th Infantry Battalion after which a five-minute firefight immediately erupted that resulted on three wounded-in-action on the government side,” she told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Petinglay did not say who carried out the attack and no group or individual claimed responsibility for the bombing. But security forces were battling the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the restive province, scene of deadly clashes between the two groups since early this year.
The BIFF split from the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front to pursue an independent Islamic state in the mineral-rich, but war-torn region of Mindanao which was formerly under the rule of sultanates before Christian settlers displaced the natives.
The MILF has signed a peace deal with Manila, but Congress is yet to approve the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law which is being opposed by some Christian politicians who have vested interest and huge landholdings in the Muslim autonomous region which is also composed of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, Marawi and Lamitan cities. (Mindanao Examiner)
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