MILF linked to blast at Army checkpoint

COTABATO CITY — Authorities have tagged the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as behind last Wednesday night’s bombing of an Army checkpoint along a major entry route to this city, which left three commuters wounded.

Tension has gripped local residents since the blast, prompting the Army’s 6th Infantry Division to seal off the city’s key entry and exit points and deploy more uniformed and plainclothes operatives in surrounding areas to ensure a peaceful observance of Easter Sunday.

Commuters Clarita Jaboc, Marites Cales and Jennifer Gallo were wounded when a powerful bomb, placed under the seat of the passenger jeepney they were riding in, exploded just as the driver pulled over for inspection at the Esteros checkpoint of the 6th ID’s Task Force Tugis.

The Army’s 6th Explosives and Ordnance Detachment here said the bomb was fashioned from a live 81mm mortar round rigged with a battery-operated, remote-controlled detonator and packed with metal fragments.

Investigators said the bomb, neatly placed inside a small bag, went off as two of the soldiers manning the checkpoint approached the jeepney.

Intelligence sources from the 6th ID said the bombing could be a test mission for the MILF’s newly trained "demolition men," some of whom have links with extortion gangs of the notorious Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom syndicate.

Police, however, said the attack could possibly be in retaliation for the gunning down of a notorious extortionist, Hadji Ebrahim, early this week in Parang, Maguindanao.

Responding soldiers shot it out with Ebrahim and his henchmen after the latter killed trader Ronnie Saclot for refusing to shell out "protection money."

One of Ebrahim’s cohorts, Tongan Guiapar, was arrested. Four civilians, including a nine-year-old girl, were wounded in the crossfire.

The shootout occurred not far away from Camp S.K. Pendatun, the regional headquarters of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police.

Police sources have confirmed that Ebrahim, also known as Kagui Saitan and Kid 45, led a big extortion ring of the Pentagon syndicate.

Saclot was the 46th person Ebrahim had killed for refusing to pay his group protection money, the sources said.

In a statement, the Parang municipal government said investigators were verifying if Ebrahim’s group was responsible for the recent bombing of a gasoline station in the town proper, which left five bystanders wounded.

Just a week later, another powerful explosion ripped through a public transport terminal, wounding eight people, including the town’s mayor, Vivencio Bataga, and two of his security escorts.

There has been a spate of violent incidents in Parang and in surrounding areas after a Marine contingent guarding the area was redeployed to the Buliok Complex at the boundary of Pikit, North Cotabato and Pagalungan, Maguindanao last month, leaving the whole town vulnerable to attacks by lawless elements.