CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — The Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID) here has maintained a high alert status following Tuesday’s blast incident in Lamitan City, Basilan that left 10 (not 11 as earlier reported) persons dead.
“As always, we are on high alert at all times considering that Mindanao is under martial law,” Capt. Arvin John Encinas, 6ID spokesperson, told Philippine News Agency in an interview Wednesday.
Encinas said they are specifically monitoring the movements of the Islamic State-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) within the so-called “SPMS box,” referring to the adjoining towns of Shariff Aguak-Pagatin (Datu Saudi), Mamasapano, and Datu Salibo, in Maguindanao’s second district.
In North Cotabato, government forces are also closely monitoring the activities of communist New People’s Army guerrillas in the peripheries of Magpet, Makilala, Antipas and Arakan towns.
“Military operations against them are still very much in place,” he said.
On July 19, police and military authorities foiled a bombing attempt in Cotabato City, seizing a powerful improvised explosive device found inside a passenger van in Barangay Awang here. The 6ID said the bomb composition, fashioned from an 81mm mortar projectile with mobile phone as trigger mechanism, bore the signature style of the BIFF.
“We believe that the BIFF was behind the attempt to divert continuous military operations against them in Maguindanao,” Encinas said.
On Tuesday, 11 persons, including a suspected suicide bomber, were killed in a car bomb explosion at the military’s Magkawit detachment in the boundaries of Barangays Bulanting, Colonia, and Maganda in Lamitan. Five others were hurt in the blast.
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor (ARMM) Mujiv Hataman condemned the Lamitan City blast, describing it as a brazen attack on the Bangsamoro people.
“We will exert every effort to help the families affected by this incident and we will strengthen efforts to secure our region without compromising the rights of the Bangsamoro,” Hataman said in a statement.
The 6ID area of responsibility includes the provinces of Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and parts of Sultan Kudarat and Lanao del Sur.(Noel Punzalan/PNA)