Bandits down power lines in N.Cotabato

PIKIT, North Cotabato, Philippines  – Suspected members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) bombed a power transmission relay tower here Sunday night, the second in seven days.

The bombing of the power line in Sitio Punol in Barangay Batulawan resulted in a four-hour power outage in 37 barangays in Cotabato City and parts of North Cotabato and Maguindanao.

Lt. Col. Audie Edralin, commanding officer of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion (IB), said the bandits strapped the explosives to the columns of the tower and set them off using a mobile phone.

He said intelligence agents of the 7th IB are helping police identify the bombers.

The BIFF was blamed for last week’s bombing of a power tower in Barangay Galakit in Pagalungan town in Maguindanao, which resulted in a three-hour blackout in parts of Central Mindanao.