Police eye MILF breakaway group in North Cotabato bombing

From GMA News (Aug 7): Police eye MILF breakaway group in North Cotabato bombing

Police are not discounting the possibility that a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front may have been behind a predawn explosion in front of a radio station in Midsayap in North Cotabato before dawn Wednesday.

Region 12 police head Chief Superintendent Charles Calima Jr. said the group led by Ameril Umbra Kato had been linked to several atrocities in the past, including attacks on paramilitary detachments and military outposts.

"(Kung) tingnan natin ang history ng nangyari sa Maguindanao at North Cotabato, continuing ang atrocities na ginagawa ng lawless elements ni Umbra Kato," Calima said in an interview on dzBB radio when asked what group could be behind the explosion.

Kato had been leading attacks in Mindanao since 2008 when the Supreme Court thumbed down a Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the MILF and the government.

He has since formed the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

"Tingin namin baka dito nanggagaling sa grupo nila (We think one possibility is that his group may be behind the blast)," Calima said.

Earlier Wednesday, an explosion rocked an area in front of a building housing a local radio station.

The blast was the third since an improvised explosive device went off in Cagayan de Oro and killed at least eight last July 26, and an explosion in Cotabato City that killed at least nine last Monday.

But Calima also claimed Wednesday's explosion may have been an offshoot of intensified police operations in public places.

He said those behind Wednesday's explosion may have left their device in front of the building and detonated it at a relatively harmless hour so they would not be caught with the explosive at police checkpoints.

"Meron daw kasing report na may balak magpasabog sa area doon pero dahil sa paghigpit ng pulis hindi na-implement ito. (Baka) iniwan na lang, inabandona na lang ang bomba," he said.

With the information, Calima said police concentrated their presence on the local market, using K-9 units to sniff out bombs.

"Siguro inabandona at pinasabog para di mahuli sa checkpoint," he added.

"From our point of view magandang senyales ito, nagtutulungan ang mamamayan at kapulisan (From our point of view, this is a good sign in the sense that police and the community are helping each other)," he said.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/320943/news/regions/police-eye-milf-breakaway-group-in-north-cotabato-bombing