Bandits bomb North Cotabato town

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Bandits fired a 40MM grenade projectile at a residential area in Pikit, North Cotabato on Wednesday night, wounding three villagers and causing panic in the area.

Captain Tony Bulao, spokesman of the Army’s 602nd Brigade, said the bombing was not in any way related to the on-going hostilities in Zamboanga City.

Police investigators said the victims in the latest attack by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Marcus Esmail, 40, Nhorjana Esmail, 18 and Amirah Usman, 20, sustained shrapnel wounds in different parts of their bodies.

The victims were inside a house at Sitio Lamak in the town proper of Pikit when the grenade, fired from a distance using either a vintage M-79 launcher, or an M203 rifle, landed on the roof and exploded, sending jagged metal fragments of the explosive’s steel casement flying to different directions.

The victims are now confined at the Cruzado Hospital, also at the town center of Pikit, which is located in the first district of the province.