Ton of defective ammunition detonated

SIRAWAI, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines – A huge mushroom cloud billowed in a logging concession in a mountainous village here as a combined team of Filipino and US ordnance disposal experts detonated about a ton of defaced and defective ammunition.

Lt. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command chief, said the defaced and defective rifle grenades, mortars, and recoilless rockets had to be disposed of safely and away from civilians by the 9th Forward Service Support Unit (FSSU) as these were hazardous. 

Dolorfino recalled the explosion in the 9th FSSU ammunition dump at Camp Enrile in Malagutay in 1995.

The combined team of ordnance experts from the Navy, Army and police and the US Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines piled up the estimated 5,000 pieces of defective and defaced rounds of ammunition in a pit in the logging concession in Dacon village.

C-4 explosives were then laid out to ensure that all the ammunition would be detonated. The blast was so powerful that it was felt as far as two kilometers away from the site.

Dolorfino said they also wanted to prevent the defaced and defective ammunition from falling into the hands of terrorists.