3rd blast hits Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines - Another explosion struck a key province in Mindanao on Thursday morning. No one was hurt in the blast. Senior Superintendent George Tuson, chief of the Tacurong City Police Office in Sultan Kudarat province, said that the explosion took place near a bank along the Tacurong-Marbel Highway at around 7 a.m. In August 2011, a roadside bomb struck the convoy of Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu. Two persons were killed and seven others were hurt in the blast. Tuson said that prior to the blast, the police force received an intelligence report of an impending bomb attack in the city. He said they are looking into the possibility that the blast is related the recent signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The explosion is the third since the signing of the agreement last week. Nur Misuari, founding chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MILF), is against the signing of the framework agreement which paves the way for the creation of a new Bangsamoro political entity that would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Last week, Mindanao was hit by two explosions, particularly in Cagayan de Oro City and Zamboanga Sibugay province. Two people were killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near the entrance of Maxandrea Hotel in downtown Cagayan de Oro City around 2 a.m. on Thursday last week. Two policemen who were preparing to inspect the package containing the bomb at the scene were injured in the blast as they were just a few meters away when it exploded. Seven hours earlier, another explosive device went off in a garment shop in Imelda town of Zamboanga Sibugay, injuring 14-year-old Alraffy Barabadan. Hours after the explosion at the hotel in Cagayan de Oro, police retrieved another IED, which was placed under a vehicle parked in a street adjacent to the hotel. Chief Superintendent Gil Hitosis, director of the Northern Mindanao Regional Police, had said that police investigators are checking the explosions' link. “We are checking the possible link of the explosions in Zamboanga and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), as we all know the Philippine government has an ongoing peace deal with a group while the other group feels disgruntled. But let me clarify that as of now we have no strong evidence linking the explosion to the peace deal,” he said.