Soldier killed, 8 wounded in Basilan blast as Sulu cops foil Jolo bombing

From InterAksyon (Jun 16): Soldier killed, 8 wounded in Basilan blast as Sulu cops foil Jolo bombing

A soldier was killed and eight others wounded Tuesday when the vehicle they were riding was struck by a roadside bomb in an ambush authorities said was staged by the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan province.

But in nearby Sulu province, another bombing was foiled when police discovered an improvised explosive device planted at a gasoline station in downtown Jolo, the provincial capital, around dawn.

Captain Roy Trinidad, chief of staff of Task Force Zambasulta commander Rear Admiral Reynaldo Yoma, the troops of the Army’s 18th Infantry Battalion were being ferried by a KM450 truck when it was struck by the explosion in Barangay Limbungasani, Tipo-Tipo town around 8:15 a.m.

This was followed by a brief firefight between the troops and the gunmen who planted the explosive.

Battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel John Paolo Perez, commander of the battalion said two of the wounded were in serious condition.

Perez said the lone fatality died as the casualties were being evacuated to Zamboanga City.

The officer said the uninjured troops engaged the Abu Sayyaf in a brief firefight but were unable to pursue the gunmen because they withdrew through an area controlled by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, with whom the government has signed a peace agreement.

However, he added, they were in communications with the MILF who were cooperating by providing information.

Trinidad said intelligence reports indicate the bomb was planted by followers of Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Furuji Indama.

A report reaching Camp Crame, meanwhile, said the Jolo bomb was found inside a bag left near the Island Petroleum gas station at the corner of Muralla and Marna streets in Barangay Walled City around 12:08 a.m.

Bomb experts from the police Special Action Force disarmed the explosive.

The Jolo police is still trying to identify who planted the bomb.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/112507/soldier-killed-8-wounded-in-basilan-blast-as-sulu-cops-foil-jolo-bombing