Islamic militants eyed in Cotabato bombing

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Investigators expressed belief that Sunday’s roadside bombing in Sharif Aguak town, which reportedly wounded two soldiers and a bystander, was perpetrated by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

The improvised explosive device went off past 9 a.m. just as a convoy of soldiers led by Col. Noli Orense, commanding officer of the Army’s 603rd Infantry Brigade, was passing while on its way to the mass oath taking of newly elected officials in Buluan town.

Pfc. Reynaldo Sotto and an unidentified member of the Philippine Marines were among those wounded.

Orense said he is convinced that the blasting device could have malfunctioned because their convoy was already past the spot where it was planted when it went off.

Investigators said the homemade bomb was fashioned from a live 105 Howitzer artillery round rigged with a battery-operated blasting mechanism attached to a mobile phone.

Another bomb explosion was reported about four hours later, but no one was reported killed or injured. Intelligence reports said the BIFF could also be behind it.

The BIFF, founded in 2011 by a radical cleric, Ameril Umbrah Kato, has been on a rampage since last week over the military’s restoration of government control over its enclave at the border of President Quirino town in Sultan Kudarat and Gen. SK Pendatun, Maguindanao.