THE improvised
explosive device found inside a passenger bus Thursday in Sultan Kudarat bore
all the marks of bombs made by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF),
a military spokesman said Friday.
“It’s the BIFF’s.
It has been the behavior of the BIFF to conduct bombings in public places as
one of their diversionary tactics to distract our combat operations against
them in the hinterlands,” said Brig. Gen. Joselito Kakilala, Armed Forces
spokesman.
The bomb
attack was thwarted after a passenger of the Yellow Bus Line bound for Isulan
town along the national highway found the bomb stuffed in a plastic bag at the
rear portion of the bus.
Bomb experts
removed the explosive device after all the bus passengers moved to safety.
A ranking
military intelligence official who requested anonymity said the bomb was also
similar to those used by the Special Operations Group of the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF), with which the government is negotiating peace.
“They are the
same because they were taught how to make IEDs by Usman and Marwan,” the
official said, referring to Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan
and Filipino bomb expert Basit Usman.
Marwan was killed
in a Jan. 25 raid, but Usman is still at large.
Following a
month-long all-out offensive, the military continued focused operations against
the BIFF, which has broken into small groups hiding in the marshlands of
Maguindanao. Hiding with them is the group of Usman, Malaysian terrorist Amin
Baco alias Jihad and four other “foreign-looking” terrorists.
The military said
more 160 BIFF fighters were killed and dozens more were wounded during the
all-out offensive. Less than a dozen soldiers were also killed and more than
two dozens were wounded.
When the BIFF was
founded by former MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato, the group had about 300
armed men. The MILF leadership expelled Kato and his followers for not
supporting its peace talks with the government.
Also on Friday,
the military said there was no evidence yet that kidnapped Naga town Mayor
Gemma Adana had been moved to Sulu, the lair of the notorious Abu Sayyaf Group.
Chief Supt.
Generoso Cerbo Jr., spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said
they believed the victim and her abductors were still in the Zamboanga Peninsula
Cerbo, however,
refused to identify the abductors.
Earlier, Capt.
Maria Rowena Muyuela, public affairs chief of the Western Mindanao Command,
said the armed men who abducted the mayor belonged to the group of Waning
Abdusalam.
Kakilala said it
was a pattern that kidnap victims were passed to the ASG in Sulu and Basilan,
but there were no signs as yet that this happened to Adana
On Dec. 5, 2011,
Austalian national Warren Rodwel was kidnapped in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay and
was released on March 27, 2013 by the ASG in Basilan.
Kakilala also
dismissed speculation that Thursday’s firefight in Sulu that killed six bandits
and two soldiers was connected with the Adana
“The military
offensive against the ASG in Sulu, just like in Basilan, is a continuing effort
to decimate the bandits. Of course, the objective of these operations is to
safely rescue all the kidnap victims from the hands of these bandits,” he said.
On Thursday, a
two-hour firefight involving the 32nd Infantry Battalion and fewer than 300
bandits erupted in Sitio Nangka, Barangay Gata, Patikul, Sulu.
Battalion
commander Lt. Col. Gregorio Nieveras said 15 soldeirs, two of them with the
rank of captain, were wounded.
“Dozens more
bandits were also wounded during our initial assault after artillery fire that
was followed by close air support by our MD520 attack helicopters,” he said.
At present, the military said the ASG was still holding six kidnap victims, including European bird-watcher Ewold Horn.
At present, the military said the ASG was still holding six kidnap victims, including European bird-watcher Ewold Horn.
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