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Manila Bulletin devider devider Central Mindanao troops on high alert

Central Mindanao troops on high alert

Published Aug 21, 2019 05:49 pm
By Joseph Jubelag  COTABATO CITY- Security forces in Central Mindanao are on heightened alert following a bomb explosion Monday in Datu Anggal Midtimbang town, Maguindanao, and a foiled bomb plot in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat. Philippine soldiers on patrol in Mindanao in May 2017 after attacks on BIFF fighters. (AFP / MANILA BULLETIN) Philippine soldiers on patrol in Mindanao. (AFP / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) Lt. Col. Manuel Alburo, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division spokesperson, said the police and military are probing deeper into the explosion of an improvised explosive device (IED) along the national highway in Barangay Kiteb, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, which links Cotabato City and General Santos City. No one was reported injured during the blast. Alburo said the blast was preceded by the recovery of an unexploded IED in Lambayong. The device was fashioned from 81mm mortar round. Lambayong police chief Lt. Gino Fregarido said individuals on a motorcycle threw away the IED which was wrapped in a sack after they noticed a security checkpoint ahead. Alburo said the explosion in Midtimbang town could have been carried out to scare villagers, since there were no victims and damaged properties. Authorities blamed the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) for the attack. The group reeled from a military offensive launched early this month on the boundary of Maguindanao and North Cotabato which resulted in the death of at least 13 rebels and a soldier. “Security measures were heightened to secure potential government and civilian targets from BIFF rebels,” Alburo said.
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