MANILA, Philippines -- Army soldiers recovered an explosive booby trap from a house where they claim wanted Moro rebel commander Ameril Ombra Kato had been hiding to evade a military offensive against him and his men.

Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Romeo Brawner said soldiers, including members of the 66th Explosive and Ordinance Detection Team (EODT), on Saturday went to the house of Bobby Azin, who he described as a “trusted man” of Kato, after receiving information the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) commander was in the area.

Brawner said the information came through text messages sent by residents hoping to cash in on the P10-million bounty on Kato, one of three MILF commanders accused of attacking civilian communities in central Mindanao in August and who are now the targets of a government offensive.

He said Kato was not at the house but the soldiers recovered a 60mm mortar shell rigged as a booby trap. “Apparently, they [rebels] were expecting the military to go there,” Brawner said.

The troops also recovered bomb-making components, including two kilograms of nails, 500 grams of explosives, wire, and several remote-controlled toy cars with the circuits removed.