CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao, (PNA) — A blast from a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) on Sunday left a soldier wounded, the Army here said.
Army Colonel Roy Galido, chief of the military’s 38th Infantry Battalion, said Corporal Edwin Lumufer, a soldier supervising militiamen in Maguindanao, sustained minor injuries when the IED fashioned from 60 mm mortar with mobile phone as trigger mechanism went off at 6:00 a.m. in Barangay Madidis.
No one has claimed responsibility but Galido said the IED was a signature armament of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) which have been targeting soldiers and bus companies for extortion.
Galido said Lumufer and militiaman Rene Penieda, were responding to a civilian’s report about a suspected IED at a road network that connects Tacurong City to Davao City.
As the soldier and Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) member were conducting ocular inspection, the IED went off.
Lumufer sustained minor shrapnel injuries while Penieda escaped unhurt.
Lumufer was supervising officer of the militiamen assigned in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao.
Galido said the explosive was planted along a grassy side of the highway, some 100 meters away from a CAFGU detachment. He suspect the bomb was intended for soldiers manning the checkpoints.
Investigators also suspect the IED was hastily left by the suspects when soldiers and militiamen were checking on all vehicles passing by Barangay Madidis.
Soldiers and policemen had to close the highway for about two hours as soldiers and bomb experts were scouring the vicinity after reports said there could be more bombs left by the suspects.