Army detonates roadside bomb in Maguindanao town

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Army bomb experts on Tuesday detonated a roadside bomb that bandits planted along a stretch of the national highway passing through Maguindanao’s Datu Unsay town.

The incident stranded hundreds of commuters and motorists when responding soldiers and police officers closed to the road to traffic for two hours while ordnance operatives disposed of the improvised explosive device (IED).

The IED was strapped to a protective steel road railing along the highway in Barangay Iganagampong, near the municipal center of Datu Unsay.

Policemen at the scene told The STAR that the IED was first noticed by vigilant passersby, who immediately reported the bomb to soldiers in a nearby roadside Army detachment.

Bomb experts destroyed the IED using a calibrated ordnance disruption explosive.

Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said there were indications that the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters is behind the foiled roadside bombing.

The BIFF, which has been clashing with the military since late January, is believed to be behind more than 20 roadside bombings in Maguindanao in the past five weeks.