Army foils bombing attempt in Maguindanao

SHARIFF AGUAK,
Maguindanao —- Military bomb experts today foiled a bombing attempt by
still unidentified man at a bus terminal here Thursday afternoon.

This after a
civilian alerted authorities about a suspicious bag left unattended at the bus
terminal situated at the town’s public market, according

Col. Lito
Sobejana, commander of the 601st Brigade said.

Sobejano said
the improvised bomb was so powerful and could have killed and maimbed innocent
civilians had it not been foiled.

He said the
IED was fashioned from a 60 mm mortar projectile, one MK-2 type of hand
grenade, gasoline, two blasting caps, a 9-volts battery and a mobile phone.

Our EOD
experts were surprised to notice the cellphone connected to the explosives and
blasting cap had several missed calls, which indicated there was indeed an
attempt to set it off,” Sobejana said.

Sobejana said
there may be a failure in the connection from the bomb composition or maybe
amateurs were involved in this deadly attempt. He was thankful the evil acts
did not succeed.

Witnesses’
account from the passengers of the Husky Bus said a young looking person who
was among the passengers of Husky bus from Cotabato City alighted at 12:45 p.m.
in Shariff Aguak terminal. He was carrying a gray back pack.

People at the
bus terminal later found the bag unattended and suspected it could be a bomb.

After police
and military authorities were alerted, authorities cordoned off the area to
allow Army bomb experts to defuse the improvised bomb.

Police and
military authorities in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat also flagged down the bus along
the highway to check if another bomb was left in the vehicle.

Manhunt was
launched against the man described by Sobejana as young looking.” (Ferdinandh Cabrera)