IED damages unfinished chapel in Sultan Kudarat

SULTAN KUDARAT, Philippines — Experts on Monday deactivated one of two improvised bombs found in a chapel in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat but the other exploded during an attempt to defuse it.

The Army’s 6th Infantry Division said the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters was behind the attempt to bomb the chapel in Barangay Pimbalayan in Lambayong town.

Police Lt. Col. Aldrin Gonzalez, spokesman of the Police Regional Office-12, said Tuesday residents found the improvised bombs and reported them to authorities.

One of the IEDs was placed at one side of the still unfinished chapel, hidden underneath construction materials. The other IED was reportedly found under a makeshift bench and covered with waste lumber trimmings.

Nobody was hurt in the blast but the chapel's roof was damaged by bent nails and iron fragments from the IED.

Major Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of 6th ID, said Tuesday the bombing attempt was meant to avenge the deaths of more than a dozen BIFF bomb-makers killed in clashes with soldiers in the past eight weeks.