Suspect in carnival blast held

ESPERANZA, Sultan Kudarat—Police arrested a man in connection with Sunday night’s grenade explosion at a carnival here, killing a 6-year-old boy and wounding more than 30 others.

Chief Insp. Bryan Bernardino, municipal police chief, did not identify the suspect, saying that he was still undergoing interrogation. “We are also tracking his companions based on descriptions provided by witnesses,” he said.

Three men lobbed hand grenades at the carnival at 8:20 p.m. for still unknown reasons. Police identified the lone fatality as John Antonio.

“It was an act of terrorism, we do not know the real motive yet and what group the perpetrators belong to. We are digging deeper into this case,” Bernardino said.

The arrested suspect was seen speeding away from the site with his companions on a motorcycle, the officer said. But for still unknown reasons, he alighted not far from the carnival and tried to return to the blast site, he added.

Some witnesses recognized the man as among the suspects and alerted the police about his presence, Bernardino said.

Mayor Helen Latog said she still could not understand why the carnival—which was full of civilians—had to be attacked. “We have no idea yet who did this,” she said in a phone interview. “We have no idea why the peryahan was attacked.”

Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the military was assisting the police in looking for the other bombers.

The grenade attacks came a few days after the military warned of diversionary tactics by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a separatist rebel group that broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and has lately figured in sporadic fighting against Army soldiers in neighboring Maguindanao province.

Bernardino said the police were still determining if the carnival bombing was related to the skirmishes. Abu Misri Mama, the BIFF spokesperson, has denied that his group was involved in the attack.

“We don’t attack civilians,” Mama said. “Only the military is our target.” Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao