Three more improvised explosive devices were recovered and
defused Thursday by Philippine Army bomb experts in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao,
the Army here said today.
Captain Joann Petinglay, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson,
said clearing operations continue despite the fact that the stronghold of the
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) has been captured by government
forces early this week.
The three IEDs, made of black powder, blasting mechanism
circuit and cut nails serving as shrapnel, were found in Barangay Balas and
Barangay Tee, both in Datu Salibo where a government PHP58-million worth flood
control project has been going on.
“We continue clearing operations, we cannot recommend as of
yet the return of displaced families, your military will not leave the site
unless the communities are free of IEDs,” Petinglay said in a radio interview.
Kadiguia Aguiam, an evacuee from the village of Tee
“Life here is hard, we are not productive, we rely on food
ration, we hope the Army could clear the area very soon so we can go back
home,” Aguiam, clutching her four year old son, said.
On Thursday, the relief arm of the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) extended relief aid and food assistance to some 700
families in Datu Saudi Ampatuan.
The Humanitarian Emergency Action Response Team (HEART-ARMM)
also conducted psychosocial intervention on women in celebration of Women’s
Month.
Women and children are the most vulnerable to armed
hostilities in their communities which are clearly not of their own making.
For the past month, fathers return to their communities to
farm amid the drought while the mothers stay at evacuation sites attending to
their children.
Petinglay said like the displaced families, the soldiers
also wanted to end the hostilities.
While clearing operations continue in interior villages of
Datu Salibo, the Army warned the public against discriminate planting of IED by
the BIFF in civilian areas and national highway of Maguindanao.
The latest victims of BIFF roadside bombs were police
officers of Gundulungan, also in Maguindanao, whose police Mahindra patrol car
was damaged when an IED was set off by lawless elements in Barangay Bagan. Two
of seven police officers were hurt.
To date, at least 28 BIFF bombs were defused, recovered and
detonated by the military in Datu Salibo.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=865405
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