TERROR WEAPONS. Several home-made explosive devices were found by soldiers pursuing Islamic State-linked militants in an abandoned lair in Ampatuan town of Maguindanao province on Saturday, Oct. 3. (Photo courtesy of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division)
COTABATO CITY—Soldiers scouring the mountain ranges of Maguindanao in search of Islamic State-linked gunmen of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) found more improvised bombs and bomb-making devices left by fleeing rebels, the Army said.
Major General Juvymax Uy, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, said the explosives were found in a shanty in Salman village of Ampatuan town on Saturday.
The area also has makeshift shelters that can accommodate up to 30 people at one time.
Uy said soldiers of the 2nd Mechanized Battalion found in one of the BIFF shelters three improvised bombs, bomb-making components, a flag of the Islamic State, and assorted rifle ammunition.
Following the series of clashes in the past weeks, various Army units were deployed for clearing operations in the areas of armed encounter.
The discovery of the explosives on Saturday came two days after soldiers from the 33rd Infantry Battalion also found improvised bombs fashioned from 60mm mortar shells with mobile phones as triggering devices.
A procedural diagram for making improvised bombs was also found.
The lair in Salman village is not far from the site of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre that left 58 people dead, 32 of them journalists.