KORONADAL CITY – Police and military recovered two improvised bombs similar to those set off by terrorists in the remote barangay of Lapu in Polomolok town, South Cotabato.
Aside from the improvised bombs, their components, which included a kilogram of black powder, electrical wires, a blasting cap, cellphones and black shirts printed with logo of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) were also recovered in a remote village in Polomolok, South Cotabato.
Chief Supt. Eliseo Tam Rasco, Soccsksargen police director, said the recovery of bomb components came after police arrested Jeffrey Panag Alonzo, 38, a resident of Barangay Lapu, believed to be behind the Sept. 16 bombing in Barangay Apopong, Gen. Santos City that left eight persons injured.
Rasco said Alonzo was a member of the Anzar al-Khilafa Philippines (AKP), an armed group based in Southern Mindanao that had pledged allegiance to IS.
“He was positively identified by several witnesses, including the victims, as the one who left a package in front of the Bonita lying-in clinic in Barangay Apopong,” said Senior Supt. Oliver Enmodias, police regional deputy director for operations in Central Mindanao.
In the police follow-up operation at 4 a.m. Monday, government forces led by Supt. Barney Condes, failed to arrest AKP leader Jeffrey Nilong, who had warrants of arrest for illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives.
Nilong was an associate of Tokboy Maguid, the AKP founding leader, who died in police operation early this year, according to Rasco. Nilong and his companions may have been tipped off of the 4 a.m. operation, he added.
Police, however, found a camp where explosives and bomb components were recovered, including IS flags and other war materials.
Rasco told reporters during a news conference in Gen. Santos City that the operation in Lapu prevented the deployment of IEDs to civilians and populated areas in the region.
Raso said pursuit operations against Nilong and his men continued with the help of the Army’s 1002nd Infantry Brigade and 27th Infantry Battalion.
Soccsksargen had been rocked by bombings targeting civilians since Aug. 28 when an IED was set off in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, leaving three persons dead. Another IED blast hit Isulan town on Sept. 2 that killed two.
On Sept. 16, an IED exploded in Gen. Santos City followed by another bombing in Midsayap, North Cotabato.