Soldier killed in Cotabato blast

COTABATO CITY — A soldier was killed while six others were critically wounded when a still unidentified man tossed a fragmentation grenade on a group of New Year revelers just before midnight Monday in a residential district here.

The blast occurred just less than a kilometer away from the headquarters of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

Investigators identified the slain soldier as Cpl. Benigno Caparas, who belonged to an Army mechanized armor unit under the 6th ID’s operational control.

Caparas, who died on the spot from multiple shrapnel wounds, was with other soldiers mingling with residents in Barangay Awang when the grenade-thrower approached them from behind and lobbed an apple-type M-67 grenade.

Two of the six wounded were Caparas’ colleagues, identified only as Capt. Pepugal and Pfc. Oxenia.

Maj. Julieto Ando, 6th ID’s spokesman, said intelligence agents have been deployed in the area to help police identify the grenade thrower and his motive for pulling off the attack. — John Unson