65th IB recover large IED in abandoned NPA lair
TIMRA Reports • 17:15 PM Sat Aug 3, 2019
2
By:
John M. Unson
The large IED was promptly dissembled by Army ordnance experts.
COTABATO CITY --- Soldiers found this week a 10-kilo improvised explosive device in an abandoned enclave of the New People’s Army in Cagayan de Oro City.
Lt. Col. Benjamin Pajarito Jr. of the Army’s 65th Infantry Battalion said Saturday the home-made bomb was planted like a booby trap along a route leading to an NPA lair in Barangay Pigsag-an in Cagayan de Oro City.
The IED was rigged with a contraption that could set off its detonator once tripped or accidentally touched even with slight pressure.
Army ordnance experts managed to promptly dissemble the IED for proper disposal.
The NPA hideout was abandoned by occupants after a brief gunfight with personnel of 65th IB’s Charlie Company led by 1Lt. Rolito Tecson.
Tecson and his men were on their way to a secluded area in Barangay Pigsag-an to check on the reported presence there of NPAs collecting money from villagers when they were attacked.
A soldier who was wounded in the ensuing encounter was rushed to a hospital for treatment.
Pajarito said the 65th IB, a unit of the 9th Infantry Division but currently under the operational control of 403rd Brigade, is thankful to the vigilant residents who alerted them on the presence of NPAs in Barangay Pigsag-an.