Alleged Islamic rebels in Sulu bomb Army convoy

MANILA, Philippines - Suspected Islamic militants in Sulu bombed a military convoy Sunday evening near downtown Jolo but missed their target by more than 70 meters.

Instead, two Muslim integree-soldiers aboard a motorcycle were wounded in the roadside bombing that occurred at about 7:10 p.m. near the headquarters of the 3rd Marine Brigade at Camp Teodolfo Bautista in Barangay Busbus.

Private First Class (Pfc) Nasser Asid and his colleague, Pfc. Sajirun Jamil, sustained shrapnel wounds at the back.

The two former Moro National Liberation Front fighters turned soldiers, are now confined with minor shrapnel wounds in the Sulu provincial hospital, Col. Eugenio Clemen, 3rd Marine Brigade commander said.

Clemen said the two, assigned to the Army’s engineering unit in the island province, were aboard a motorcycle and ahead by 75 meters from the Marine convoy, on their way to a Mosque to attend an evening prayer when the roadside explosion hit them.

“At 7:10 p.m., an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded along the road in between the compound of the Department of Public Works and Highways and the headquarters of the Philippine Air Force (PAF),” Clemen said.

Investigation showed that the target of the attack was the convoy of Marine Battalion Landing Team 6 that had just left Camp Bautista en route to their unit at Bud Datu in Indanan.

Apparently, the bombers mistook the two Muslim motorcycle riding soldiers as advance security of the convoy and in haste detonated the bomb they planted along the road.

Responding military bomb experts had to conduct a controlled detonation on a drum with plastic contents beside the road leading to the 3rd Marine headquarters on suspicions that another bomb might be hidden inside.

“Wala namang nakuhang bomba. Pero doon sa vicinity may drum na may plastic na basura na pinasabog natin baka may IED din,” Clemen said.

Saying that the explosion was the handiwork of the Abu Sayyaf, Clemen ordered setting up Marine detachment in the scene of the explosion as added security in the area, especially to the newly renovated Jolo airport.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Public Information Office chief, denounced the bombing describing the act as unIslamic.   – With Roel Pareño