COTABATO CITY, Philippines --- Tension spread in an old Moro farming enclave in Midsayap, North Cotabato after unidentified gunmen blasted Sunday night a powerful grenade near a mosque surrounded by houses of local farmers.
The shelling came less than a week after gunmen fired a B-40 anti-tank rocket at a segment of a bridge being built not far from the mosque.
Senior Inspector Henry Narciso, chief of the Midsayap municipal police, said investigators are still trying to determine who could have fired the grenade projectile near a mosque in Barangay Tamped, which triggered panic among local villagers.
Barangay officials said the grenade, fired from a distance using either an M-79 launcher, or an M203 rifle, could have been aimed at the worship site, but fell short of range.
Local villagers suspect the attack was perpetrated by a group trying to extort “protection moneyâ€.