By Edwin O. Fernandez
CAMP SK PENDATUN, Maguindanao, May 10 (PNA) --
Soldiers and Army bomb experts here have been placed on heightened alert
following a foiled bombing attempt at the town hall of Shariff Aguak in
Maguindanao, the military said.
Colonel Dickson Hermoso, speaking for the 6th
Infantry Division, said it is military standard operating procedure to place
soldiers, especially members of the ordnance disposal team, to be on alert
following the discovery of an improvised explosive device which investigators
believed could be related to harassment by Moro bandits.
On Friday night, residents foiled what could be
a bloody evening when they found a suspicious sack near the town hall.
Alert soldiers and bomb experts properly
disposed the explosive.
Soldiers of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade
said members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) could be behind
the bombing attempt to retaliate the arrest of its members hours earlier.
One BIFF member was arrested and soldiers
seized several high powered firearms guns during a raid which came after about
50 BIFF members attack two Army positions in Maguindanao Thursday.
Gunmen rained the old capitol compound of
Maguindanao with rifle grenades and ambushed soldiers who responded in an
earlier harassment against a roadside Army detachment.
Additional soldiers were
deployed to secure the national highway linking Cotabato City and Isulan,
Sultan Kudarat passing through Maguindanao province. (PNA)
CTB/NYP/EOF
CTB/NYP/EOF
