ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines -– Marine troopers foiled a bomb attack after they recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) left by two suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits in Jolo, Sulu on Monday.
The IED was intercepted at around 7:30 p.m. at a checkpoint along Airport Road in Barangay San Raymundo, according to Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado, chief of Joint Task Group Sulu.
Arrojado said members of the 2nd Marine Battalion Landing Team saw two men on a motorcycle pull over some 20 meters away from the checkpoint.
He said one of the men got off the motorcycle, left a box on the road and sped off.
“The troopers saw a wire dangling from the bag, prompting them to call their K-9 and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams,” Arrojado said.
He said the box contained bunches of lansones and two rounds of 60mm mortars, a box containing two kilos of ammonium nitrate, fuel oil, three batteries and a mobile phone, believed to be a triggering device. – With Jaime Laude