One dead in Maguindanao mosque bombing

COTABATO CITY – An improvised explosive device went off outside a mosque in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, killing a Mosque caretaker Friday night, police said Saturday.

Senior Superintendent Marcelo Pintac, Maguindanao police director, identified the victim as Arsad Sapar, who died from shrapnel wounds in various parts of his body.

Quoting witnesses, Pintac said they saw two men planting an improvised explosive device inside the mosque compound and hurriedly left using a motorcycle.

Sapar, whose father is the Imam or preacher in the same worship site, was checking the building as part of his routine when the IED went off at about 10 p.m.

Police said investigators found fragments of mortar projectiles at the spot where the IED exploded.

“We are still investigating the incident, we are following different leads,” Pintac said, adding that the wall of the Mosque had markings from shrapnel.

Friday night’s bombing was preceded by last week’s IED attack near two government offices near the North Cotabato provincial capitol in Barangay Amas in Kidapawan City and the discovery of two mortar rounds in a passenger van in Sultan Kudarat province.

No one was killed or injured in the North Cotabato blast but the incident triggered panic in the area and prompted the police and military to establish a security cordon around the provincial capitol to prevent a repeat of the attack.

Police and Army units in the region have been placed on heightened alert following the discovery of several IEDs in the region, which was allegedly the handiwork of Jemaah Islamiyah recruits.

Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao