1 hurt in Cotabato bus terminal grenade attack

From the Philippine News Agency (Jul 31, 2023): 1 hurt in Cotabato bus terminal grenade attack (By Edwin Fernandez)

GRENADE BLAST. Police closed off the main entrance of the Husky Bus private terminal in Cotabato City after unidentified men threw a hand grenade at 5 a.m. on July 31, 2023. A barker at the terminal was hurt in the incident. (Photo courtesy of DXMS Radio Cotabato)

COTABATO CITY – A “barker” was hurt after unidentified men on board a motorbike tossed a hand grenade at the main entrance of a bus terminal here Monday morning, police said.

Maj. John Vincent Bravo, police station 2 chief, said the blast occurred at about 5 a.m. at the gate of Husky Bus terminal on the national highway in Esteros District here.

Grenade shrapnel also damaged a passenger van parked outside the terminal compound.

Witnesses said they heard a motorbike speeding away from the bus terminal followed by a loud explosion.

No one has claimed responsibility, but investigators believed the grenade attack was not meant to hurt but to threaten the bus firm that had been receiving extortion demands from lawless elements.

The victim, whose name was withheld pending investigation, was rushed to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center for minor injuries.

On May 31, three improvised explosive devices were planted at the same bus terminal that bomb experts safely detonated while the city was hosting the Palarong Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao Athletic Association’s sports competition.

On April 17 this year, at least six passengers were hurt after an improvised explosive device went off inside a new double-decker bus at the public terminal in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.

Police have filed charges for frustrated murder against about 15 men, mostly from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) operating in nearby Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte provinces, in connection with the Isulan bus bomb attack.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1206810