2 hurt in Cotabato grenade attack following Maguindanao blast

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Two were wounded in a related grenade and gun attack here late Monday, just three days after two villagers were killed in an explosion in Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao.

One of two men on a motorcycle first hurled a fragmentation grenade at a house in Barangay Rosary Heights 10 here hurting a resident named Hassan Zaman.

One of the two suspects armed with a pistol shot and wounded a bystander, Farzi Ampatuan, who tried to flag them down as they sped away.

The suspects, whose motorcycle crashed while fleeing, escaped hurriedly on foot when they sensed that irate men carrying stones were closing in.

Police Colonel Michael Lebanan, director of the Cotabato City police, said they found the registration document of the abandoned motorcycle hidden under its seat.

He said probers shall submit the document to the Highway Patrol Unit of the Philippine National Police for verification.

“The motorcycle was registered to a certain resident of Davao City. We now have a good lead to pursue,” Lebanan told reporters on Monday morning.  

The incident was preceded by the grenade blast Saturday night in Barangay Masulot in Sultan sa Barongis town in Maguindanao, some 80 kilometers south of Cotabato City.

A farmer named Parido Matabalao and his daughter, Zahara, were killed in the explosion.

A lone suspect reportedly hurled a grenade inside their house through an open window and escaped as the explosive went off.

Two relatives of Matabalao, Bayan Pendi and Sarfia Matabalao, were injured in the attack, now recuperating in a hospital.