Soldiers disarm IED along Maguindanao highway

 MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Soldiers found and promptly disarmed an improvised explosive device along a highway in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao.

The stretch of highway where the IED was found was closed to traffic for about an hour as bomb disposal experts worked on the scene.

Dozens of vehicles, including a van carrying Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, were stranded until the improvised bomb was disarmed.

Sobejana said Sunday he is certain he was not the target of the supposed roadside bombing in Barangay Saniag.

 “I was just a passerby. We have security protocols. My travels are virtually unannounced,” Sobejana said.

He said the IED was safely dismantled by a responding Army ordnance team.

Local officials said they are certain the IED was planted by members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

The BIFF is known to use roadside bombs on civilians as retribution for losses in encounters with units of 6th ID, the Army unit headquartered in Maguindanao.

More than 30 members of the BIFF, which uses the flag of the Islamic State, have been killed in a spate of encounters with soldiers in Maguindanao from January to May this year.