Cotabato grenade blast kills 1, wounds 11

COTABATO CITY , Philippines   – A militiaman was killed and 11 people – five of them policemen – were wounded in two bombings and an ambush in Ma-guindanao yesterday.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Armed Forces spokesman, said military intelligence has warned of more bombings in Central Mindanao.

“The recent attacks are connected to each other, and the objective is, of course, aside from sowing terror in the area, to divert the attention of our troops so they would not focus all resources in the hunt for Ameril Umbra Kato,” he said.

Errol Roberts, a member of the Citizens’ Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU), was killed after a bomb blew up near their outpost in Barangay Kibleg in North Upi town.

Several minutes later, gunmen ambushed and wounded Chief Inspector Francis Señoren and his three men along the Cotabato-North Upi Highway after they were sent to investigate the explosion in the CAFGU detachment.

Four hours later, a grenade exploded at the Co Tiong Bon Grocery Store along Sinsuat Avenue in the commercial district of Cotabato City.

Wounded were Senior Police Officer 3 Roderick Sta. Ana, and civilians Francisco Duran, Lucia Solaiman, Anwar Amil, Alladin Ongga, Oting Sampa and Norlyn Salem.

They were taken to the Cotabato Regional Medical Center.

North Upi Mayor Ramon Piang said Barangay Kibleg, where the CAFGU detachment is located, is home to mixed Muslim and Christian settlers.

“We have tightened security in the surroundings of our town to prevent a repeat of that bombing,” he said.

In the ambush on the Cotabato-North Upi Highway, the gunmen opened fire at the approaching vehicle of Señoren and his men, who are ordnance experts.

After a brief firefight, the ambushers retreated to a nearby hinterland after sensing that responding militiamen and civilian volunteers were closing in.

Responding soldiers took Señoren and his men to Camp Siongco Hospital inside the Army’s 6th Infantry Division headquarters.

Cotabato City police chief Senior Superintendent Willie Dangane said the grocery store where the grenade was tossed is located in a spot teeming with fruit vendors.

Investigators found the grenade’s safety lever a few meters away from the blast site, he added.

Witnesses said they saw a man in a white shirt fleeing from the scene after they heard the explosion, with a caliber .45 pistol tucked in his waist.

The suspect disappeared in the city’s wharf along Villaeron street, witnesses added.

Lt. Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos, Army spokesman, said troops detained a man suspected of hurling the grenade at the Co Tiong Bon Grocery Store at around 11:30 a.m.

Bishop condemns bombings

Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo condemned yesterday the latest attacks in Maguindanao and Cotabato City.

Speaking over Catholic Church-run Radio Veritas, Bagaforo asked the people to stay calm and not immediately blame anyone.

“What is important is that we keep calm and not do anything that would cause unnecessary panic,” he said.

“But we cannot avoid that there would be fear and apprehension because of the series of incidents of bombings in Cotabato City.”

Bagaforo appealed to the government to seriously look into the recent attacks and find ways to protect the people.

“Well, we should closely investigate what is the root of these bombings,” he said. “The military and the police should also implement a degree of alertness.”

MILF fails to regain camps

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) twice tried but failed to regain control of two guerrilla enclaves in Guindulungan, Maguindanao during the past four days.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, Army 6th Infantry Division spokesman, said rogue MILF bands want to retrieve the arms left in Camp Afgan in Guindulungan after troops drove them away last May.

“It was in that camp where soldiers recovered more than a dozen improvised explosives and assorted materials needed in the fabrication of bombs,” he said.

Ponce said 70 MILF renegades attacked soldiers at the camp’s perimeter but retreated to the border of Guindulungan and South Upi, Maguindanao after sensing that the area was heavily guarded.

Another rebel band returned two days later and harassed soldiers guarding a strategic hill not far from Camp Afgan, he added.

Ponce said they have been receiving reports from barangay officials that a guerrilla was killed in the ensuing firefight.

“But we have not recovered any cadaver. Soldiers, however, found some military provisions at the scene of the encounter left by the rebels as they fled,” he said.

The MILF has used Camp Afgan as “springboard” for roadside bombings in the national highway linking Cotabato City to Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, Ponce said. — With James Mananghaya, Evelyn Macairan, Dennis Carcamo