SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao — Alert police force multipliers and Army bomb experts foiled Friday night a bombing attempt here and arrested two of four suspects, the military has said.
The powerful improvised explosive device (IED) inside a small box was left at about 6:30 p.m. by four men beside a terminal ticket booth, near an outpost of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team (BPAT).
The Army’s Explosive and Ordnance Division defused the IED about an hour later, according to Capt. Arvin John Encinas, Army’s 6th Infantry Division spokesperson.
He said alert BPAT members told the military they saw four men leaving a suspected IED at the ticket booth and quickly left on board two separate motorbikes.
The BPAT members immediately informed Shariff Aguak Vice Mayor Akmhad Ampatuan who, along with the BPAT, chased the suspects.
They arrested two on a motorbike but failed to get the two other suspects, who were on a separate motorcycle.
Encinas identified the arrested suspects as Esmael Abdulkarem, 44, a resident of Shariff Aguak, and Boy Kamid, 52, of Datu Hoffer, both in Maguindanao. Two .45-caliber pistols were found in their possession.
Immediately, elements of the Army’s 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion and the 57th Infantry Battalion cordoned off the ticketing booth area.
Encinas said the improvised bomb was fashioned from an MK2 fragmentation grenade and 60-mm. mortar explosive sans its fuse and tailfin.
Major Gen. Arnel B. dela Vega, 6th ID chief, lauded the alertness of village watchmen as well as Vice Mayor Ampatuan for quickly responding to the incident and alerting the Army. The suspects have remained under close watch at the municipal police office here. (PNA)
