Bomb attack foiled in Tacurong

 Koronadal City – Government forces foiled a bomb attack in nearby Tacurong City Friday afternoon by suspected urban terrorists operating in Southern Philippines.

The remote-controlled explosive, which was hidden inside a big basket loaded with rambutan, was found beside a commercial bank along Bonifacio street in Tacurong.

It was diffused by members of the Explosive Ordinance Demolition Squad of the Tacurong City police, the Task Force Talakudong and the Army’s 601st Brigade.

Superintendent Joel Limson, police chief of Tacurong City, said the explosive was placed beside the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), near the unloading point of  buses entering the city using the Bonifacio street.

The bomb was diffused at around 5:45 p.m., Limson said.

The suspect who allegedly planted the bomb was arrested by operatives of the Tacurong police and elements of the Task Force Talakudong and the 601st Brigade.

In a text message sent to The STAR yesterday, Limson identified the suspect as Badrudin Guiasilon Tapid, alias Badz, a resident of Dalican, Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao.

Limson said Tapid was was nabbed even before the explosive experts diffused the bomb.

Police and military forces recovered three 60-mm mortars, batteries and other improvised explosive device (IED) paraphernalias from the suspect’s possession when they arrested him a few meters from the area where the bomb was planted.

An explosive expert of the Task Force Talakudong said the 60-mm mortar is a baby type mortar  that can kill many people and can destroy a structure when directly hit.

Limson said the explosive experts are now trying to dertermine if the bomb has the signatures of the al-Queda linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and the notorious Abu Sayyaf group.

Appropriate charges are now being readied against the suspect, who is presently detained at the lock-up cell of the Tacurong police station.