Mosque caretaker killed in blast

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao ,Philippines  – A caretaker of a mosque was killed in a bomb attack here Friday night, police said.

Senior Superintendent Marcelo Pintac, Maguindanao police director, said mosque caretaker Arsad Sapar died from severe shrapnel wounds.

Witnesses saw two men planting an improvised explosive in the mosque and hurriedly left aboard a motorcycle.

Sapar, whose father is the imam or preacher in the mosque in the town proper, was doing his routine check when the bomb went off.

Pintac said investigators found fragments of a mortar projectile at the spot where the bomb exploded.

“The (explosive) could have been made up of mortar rounds connected to an improvised blasting mechanism,” Pintac said.

The bombing was preceded by last week’s attack near two government offices in the North Cotabato provincial capitol in Kidapawan City.

No one was killed or injured in the blast, but the incident triggered panic in the area and prompted the police and military to establish a security cordon around the provincial capitol to prevent a repeat of the attack.

Police earlier had recovered several improvised bombs while being transported to still undetermined destinations by couriers in S.K. Pendatun and Guindulungan towns in Maguindanao.