PNP: Task group formed to probe into Koronadal bombing
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police in Central Mindanao has formed and activated a special investigation task group or SITG to investigate the bus explosion that shocked Koronadal City in South Cotobato.
This comes a day after an improvised bomb exploded in a passenger bus of the Yellow Bus Line in at Gen San Drive, Brgy. Zone 3 in Koronadal on Wednesday, leaving two persons wounded, including one Wilfredo Ilagan Tino who was driving his tricycle behind the bus.
"Investigation is still ongoing to identify the perpetrators and its motive. We will keep you posted as to its development," Police Brig. Gen. Roderick Alba, PNP public information chief told reporters in a Viber message.
The PNP in a statement sent to reporters also said that the SITG was activated specifically to investigate the post-blast findings.
It added that while the investigation is ongoing, security measures in all points of convergence and transportation networks have been intensified following the incident.
“Rest assured, your PNP is on full alert. Now is also the time for the public to be extra vigilant and report immediately any suspicious individuals or activities in their area,” Police Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr., PNP officer in charge said.
Army tags two local terror groups
Brig. Gen. Eduardo Gubat of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division said Friday their units and the police have tightened security in all public terminals in central Mindanao to prevent a repeat of Thursday’s bombing.
Gubat, also commander of the Army-led anti-terror Joint Task Force Central, and Brig. Gen. Alexander Tagum of the Police Regional Office-12 separately told reporters there are clear indications that the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the Dawlah Islamiya together plotted the bus bombing.
The allied terror groups, fashioned from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, have a reputation for venting ire on non-military targets over losses in clashes with pursuing government forces.
Two BIFF members, Abdul Patir and Sadam Salandang, died in the 6th ID’s air and artillery maneuvers Monday in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao.
Seven other terrorists, among them Abu Toraife, who is wanted for no fewer than 30 criminal cases pending in different courts, were wounded in the division’s anti-terror offensive.
Abu Toraife, a radical cleric known for fomenting hatred for non-Muslims, is a leader of one of three factions in the BIFF.
Members of different municipal peace and order councils said Thursday barangay officials in areas along central Mindanao’s 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta have pointed to the BIFF and the Dawlah Islamiya as behind the bus bombing.
The Liguasan Delta, which spans through lowlands in central Mindanao's adjoining Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato provinces, is a known bastion of both ISIS-inspired groups.
The bus bombing on Thursday was an apparent retaliation for the death of Patir and Salandang, according to sources.
Tagum said the PRO-12 has deployed plainclothes intelligence operatives in public terminals. — Franco Luna with John Unson in Koronadal City
- Latest
- Trending
