Maguindanao bomb attack foiled

AMPATUAN, Maguindanao, Philippines — Soldiers thwarted an attempt by a local terror group to stage a bomb attack following the discovery of an improvised explosive device (IED) along the Cotabato-Isulan Highway in this town on Saturday.

The IED, fashioned out of a mortar projectile with a blasting contraption that can be set off from a distance, was found by patrolling soldiers in Sitio Masalay in Barangay Matagobong.

Bomb experts from the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade deactivated the IED that was believed planted by the lawless group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

The group, which pledged allegiance to international terror organization Islamic State, has been tagged in all deadly bombings in central Mindanao since 2014.

The attempt was reportedly meant to show that the force of the BIFF was not diminished by the surrender of over a hundred of its members in the past 12 months.