Army bomb experts defuse IEDs in Maguindanao

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Army bomb experts promptly defused on Tuesday two powerful roadside bombs made up of live 105 cannon shells planted along a national highway by suspected members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the two improvised explosive devices were first discovered by passersby neatly placed along one side of the Cotabato-Gen. Santos Highway in Barangay Maitumaig in Datu Unsay town in the province.

The IEDs were fashioned from live 105 Howitzer cannon rounds rigged with a battery-operated blasting mechanism that can be activated from a distance using a mobile phone.

Hermoso said combatants of the Army’s 45th Infantry Battalion, led by Lt. Col. Donald Hongitan, immediately closed the highway to traffic while military ordnance operatives deactivated the bombs.

The portion of the highway straddling through the area where the BIFF planted the IEDs was reopened to traffic two hours later, Hongitan said.