MARAWI CITY, Philippines—Unidentified armed men fired a grenade, lobbed an explosive device and shot at troops near the headquarters of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade here on Wednesday but no one was hurt, the military said Thursday.
Lt. Col. Alexander Osop, the local military spokesperson, told the Inquirer that unidentified men fired an M203 grenade, which exploded in one of the bunkers inside the camp around 7 p.m.
He said as troops were investigating the incident, some of them heard a phone ringing inside a garbage bin, just outside the camp’s fence.
When they verified it, Osop said soldiers found an improvised explosive device (IED) fitted with a mobile phone as remote detonator. Apparently, the ringing was caused by the mobile detonator but it was still not certain why the bomb—made out of TNT and packed nails—failed to explode.
He said the initial theory was that the IED encountered technical problems compounded by the wet ground as it rained earlier that night.
While soldiers were busy with the IED, Osop said they were fired upon.
“Later, a fast moving vehicle with unidentified armed men fired toward the responding troops,” he said.
Osop said the military had suspected that the attack on the military camp was perpetrated by members of the Maute group, a band of armed men blamed for several incidents in Lanao del Sur—including the beheading of two of the six kidnapped sawmill workers in Butig town last April 11.
READ: 2 Lanao kidnap victims beheaded, 4 others released
Marawi City Mayor Majul Gandamra said he will convene the peace and order council to tackle the recent developments in the city—including the attack on the military on Wednesday. RAM