Blasts rock N. Cotabato town
NORTH COTABATO, Philippines – Two explosions rocked the town proper of Pikit early yesterday morning, forcing police officers to block a stretch of the national highway and stranding hundreds of commuters for almost five hours.
Responding policemen and Army bomb experts managed to defuse the third improvised explosive device (IED) that bystanders found minutes later near where the two IEDs went off.
Senior Inspector Jojie Nicolas, town police chief, said no one was hurt in the twin explosions, but the incident sparked panic in the area.
The first IED exploded near an unfinished government-funded gymnasium located along the Cotabato-Davao Highway.
The other IED, planted several meters away, went off just as responding policemen and combatants of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion arrived to clear the scene.
“No one from among the soldiers and police investigators inspecting the scene got hurt,†Nicolas said.
The Pikit municipal police closed the highway to traffic for almost five hours as bomb experts searched for more explosives in the vicinity.
Captain Tony Bulao, spokesman for the Army’s 602nd Brigade, which has jurisdiction over military units in Pikit and in the nearby towns, said intelligence operatives were helping the police investigate the explosions as of press time.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Bulao said.
He said soldiers were deployed along the highway to ensure the safety of commuters and motorists.
Nicolas said investigators have yet to find the bombers and determine the motive for the attack.
The bombings in Pikit were preceded by an attempt by suspected members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to set off an IED near the municipal government compound in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.
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