Bukidnon blast, a BIFF test mission?

From the Manila Bulletin (Dec 11): Bukidnon blast, a BIFF test mission?

Muslim rebels who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group are suspected of carrying out a bus bombing that claimed 10 lives (not 11 as earlier reported) Tuesday.

Major Ezra Balagtey, a military spokesman for the region, said the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a band of a few hundred guerrillas operating in the troubled southern island of Mindanao, are believed to have staged Tuesday’s attack which left 42 persons wounded.

Six of those killed – three male and three female – were students of the Central Mindanao University (CMU).

The BIFF denied involvement.

“Bombing civilians would not benefit us. The (military) is fabricating stories again to malign us,” BIFF spokesman Abu Misry Mama said.

In a phone interview with the Manila Bulletin, Abu Misry said “Hindi gawain ng BIFF and magbomba ng bus na may sibilyan. (The BIFF does not bomb a passenger bus with civilians on board),” as he denied the charge.

A young passenger told probers he saw a man wearing a jacket and cap leave a bag inside the bus.

The bus, which came from Wao, Lanao Del Sur, was headed for Cagayan De Oro City when the blast occurred shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday a few meters away from the gate of the CMU.

Capt. Christian Uy, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID), said the explosive was placed in the bus’ overhead cabin which explains why most of the victims suffered head wounds.

SIMILAR ‘BOMB’

Balagtey said the explosive that ripped the bus was similar to the one used in a November attack on another bus owned by the Rural Transit Mindanao Incorporated (RTMI) which the BIFF is also believed to have orchestrated.

“The bomb/IED is made of an 81 mm mortar round (that was) cellphone-activated. The same bomb signature with the IED explosion that happened last November,” Balagtey said in an SMS message to journalists.

But while Balagtey did not name a particular suspect, Brig. Gen. Alexander Balutan, the deputy commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command identified one Garnet Lintang, a BIFF commander operating in Central Mindanao to be behind the bombing incident.

According to Balutan, the  BIFF was conducting a test mission for their new graduates.

A spokeswoman for President Aquino condemned the bombing.

“We condemn the violent act that resulted in the loss of lives,” said Abigail Valte.
Valte did not say who the president’s office believed was responsible although she said authorities were following undisclosed leads.

It was the latest attack on the bus company which operates in Mindanao, where Muslim rebels and other armed groups are active.

BIFF ‘SIGNATURE’

Aside from the November bombing, 10 people were killed when a bomb exploded aboard a bus belonging to the company in 2010. That incident was blamed on an extortion scheme linked to Muslim extremists.

The BIFF split from the main Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), in 2008.

It opposes the peace deal between the 10,000-strong MILF and the government signed in March, and vows to keep fighting for a separate Islamic state in the south of the largely-Christian nation.

In August the BIFF uploaded clips on YouTube showing one of its leaders pledging support for the Islamic State organization, the brutal jihadist group that has seized a large swathe of territory in Iraq and Syria.

Rommel Banlaoi, chairman of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, said it was likely that the BIFF carried out the latest bombing.

“The BIFF is fully engaged in offensive military operations. They are heightening their military activities right now, even their bombing operations,” he told AFP.

“Their bombing activities are commonly mixed with their criminal activities (such as extortion).”

SAVED BY DOCUMENTS

A teacher-applicant who was on board the ill-fated bus said a bunch of documents stuffed in her bag which she placed on her lap covering the front part of her body saved her from imminent death.

She said all passengers around her died in the explosion.

Inside her bag, a two-inch long shrapnel was recovered among her things.

Police identified the victims killed in the bus explosion as Kim Valiente, 17, from Malaybalay City; Anita Santillan, 54 of Dologon, Maramag; Catherine Villahermosa; Johnrey Valdesco; John Bernard Cuhanap; Jonathan Balida; Marielle Achacoso, 17 from Kalasungay, Malaybalay City; Niezel Dee Gonzaga, 22 from Hagkol, Valencia City;  and Michael Buctos.

http://www.mb.com.ph/bukidnon-blast-a-biff-test-mission/