Suspected members of extremist Abu Sayyaf Group tried but
failed to harm officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on
a project visitation tour in Basilan Wednesday, officials said.
The convoy was led by ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman and public
works and highways officials.
Police blamed the ASG in the bomb attack because the bomb
that went off has the "signatures" of the extremist group blamed for
similar bomb attacks in the past.
The improvised explosive planted on a dirt road in Sitio
Urot near the town of Tipo-Tipo
The triggering device went off but not the main charge of
the IED, police said.
Despite the incident, Hataman decided to push with the
project inspection of infrastructure projects that connect towns in Basilan.
But Hataman said he was not sure if his convoy was the
target but directed the police to probe the incident and intensify road
security, not only during visits of regional and provincial officials, but more
so for the safety of everybody.
Hataman has been supporting all efforts of the government's
military against the extremist groups which has been creating troubles in the
province while the government is pushing for development projects.
In a statement released by the ARMM Bureau of Public
Information, police and military authorities in Basilan believed that the bomb
was meant for ARMM officials and military and police personnel.
"We were already about five to 10 minutes from the site
where the bomb went off," Hataman told reporters in a phone interview.
Army bomb experts, on orders of 18th Infantry Battalion
commander Lt. Colonel Enerito Lebeco, defused the IED fashioned from 81 mm
mortars with mobile phone as trigger mechanism.
Two other bombs, believed to be secondary bombs when the
primary failed to explode, were found not far from the minor blast site.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=783361
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