Military begins removing explosives in abandoned BIFF lair

From ABS-CBN (Feb 24): Military begins removing explosives in abandoned BIFF lair

DATU SALIBO, Maguindanao - The Philippine Army's Explosive and Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team has started clearing landmines left by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Barangay Tee in this town.

Additional EOD personnel were sent to Barangay Tee to conduct paneling or a search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) believed to be planted by fleeing members of the BIFF.

Most of the operating troops who were injured in the encounter against the BIFF got hurt from IEDs that went off in the area.

An official from the EOD team said paneling is a risky activity as they do not know where the explosives are placed.

The EOD official said that based on the accounts they got from the troops injured from the IEDs that went off in Barangay Tee, some are pressure-type while others are command-detonated bombs.

They also discovered some wires that can trigger an explosion when stepped on.

Lt. Col. Warlito Limet, 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion commander, said the area has been quiet for three days now but the village remains under the threat of explosions, which is why more EOD personnel were sent to check and recover the IEDs planted by the rebels.

Clearing the village of landmines might take a month, according to the EOD official, but they will double their efforts to make Barangay Tee free from all sorts of explosives before displaced residents can go back to their homes.

IED

The EOD team will use metal detectors and other equipment in their paneling activity. The area will also be cordoned off.

Meantime, since the firefight erupted last February 5, the EOD team has recovered about 20 IEDs within and in the peripheries of the village.

Most of the recovered items were IEDs made out of flash powder and concrete nails.

Flash powder IEDs are considered as low-order bombs while the mortar-types are of a higher category.

The EOD official said that they used to recover IEDs fashioned out of mortars or military ordnance.

He said IEDs made out of flash powder seems new in Central Mindanao and can be easily purchased and are cheaper than mortars.

The EOD team warned the public against anyone frequently purchasing of flash powder, concrete nails and 9-volt batteries usually used in IEDs.

FOXHOLES

As the clearing operations continue, residents remain worried about their safety.

Residents of Sambolawan, a village in the poblacion of Datu Salibo, have dug up foxholes beside their shanties so they can jump and hide inside these every time there will be heavy exchange of gunfire.

Some of them are also helping locate planted IEDs. The BIFF earlier said it did not leave IEDs in Barangay Tee and that this was possibly the handiwork of the military.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/regions/02/24/16/military-begins-removing-explosives-in-abandoned-biff-lair