MILF squad eyed in carnival bombing

KORONADAL CITY – Police tagged an alleged Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander as being behind the grenade attack that wounded eight people at a carnival in Tacurong City on Saturday.

Sultan Kudarat police director Benhur Mongao said Commander Shiek Abdullah heads the MILF explosive squad whose members have bombed various parts of central Mindanao.

Abdullah’s group was identified by a certain Badrudin Mambao, who was arrested by the police at around 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 25 after attempting to attack the police station of Lambayong town in Sultan Kudarat, he added.

Mongao said police seized from Mambao an MK2 fragmentation grenade, similar to the type of explosive that blew up last week in the cities of Tacurong and General Santos, leaving 30 people injured.

During interrogation, Mambao told police Abdullah’s gang planned to sow terror through bombings and grenade attacks in central Mindanao, he added.

In Zamboanga City, police tightened security in bus terminals and ports after a powerful bomb was found abandoned near a bus terminal.

Police ordnance men safely defused the bomb.

Unconfirmed reports said the bombs could be part of 10 explosives placed in vital installations and public areas in Zamboanga City.

However, Zamboanga City police director Senior Superintendent Mario Yanga denied the reports.

“Our security personnel have already recovered two EID and both have the same signature with 81mm mortar and the main charge,” he said.

A similar bomb was recovered a few days ago at a bus terminal in Pagadian City, Yanga said.

In Cotabato province, the MILF accused yesterday the Army’s 68th Infantry Battalion of imposing a “food blockade” on a community of MILF supporters in Alamada town.

The MILF website, www.luwaran.net, said the “food blockade” started after guerrillas attacked an Army training camp at a hinterland district in Barangay Dado, Alamada last Dec. 28.

Muslims in Barangay Palepain, where the rebels have reportedly retreated after the attack, have complained over radio stations in Cotabato City of the military’s alleged ban on movement of farmers in the affected barangay.

More than 300 Muslim families have fled from Barangay Palepain after MILF rebels used the area as launching pad for their attack on an Army base in nearby Barangay Dado.

Alamada Mayor Ernesto Concepcion, chairman of the municipal peace and order council, said peaceful efforts of resolving the security problems in Barangay Alepain are now underway.

Cotabato Gov. Jesus Sacdalan, who hails from Alamada, has been initiating backdoor dialogues with the military and local MILF forces to hasten the return of evacuees to their homes, he added. – Ramil Bajo, John Unson, Roel Pareño