Boy killed, 2 other children injured in Basilan grenade blast

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A 14-year-old boy was killed while two other children were critically injured when one of the two grenades they found on the shore in a village in Tabuan Lasa in Basilan exploded, the police said Friday.

Superintendent Shephard Reyes, the Basilan police director, said Aidil Sarahadil was killed while Alman Abdu and Rubiyah Gani were injured during the explosion that took place Thursday afternoon in Sitio (sub-village) Bokot.

“Investigation disclosed that while the three victims were walking on the shoreline of the said place, they found two grenade launcher ammunition. They threw one grenade into the sea while Sarahadil poked the other one using a sharp stone. Unfortunately, the grenade launcher ammunition exploded, causing his instantaneous death,” Reyes said.

Dr. Arlyn Jawad-Jumaoas, director of the Save the Children in Basilan, expressed frustration over the incident.

She issued an appeal to all the major players in the conflict in the province to exercise more care in handling and disposing of their war materials.

“We don’t just lost children to war, we also lost precious lives due to abandoned or unattended unexploded ordnance,” Jumaoas said.

On Friday, bomb experts also recovered and defused an improvised explosive device (IED) planted near the house of a government official in Isabela City.

Reyes said the improvised bomb was recovered outside the house of Engineer Soler Undug in Barangay (village) San Rafael around 8 a.m.

Undug is the provincial district engineer of the Department of Public Works and Highways in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DPWH-ARMM).

It was the second time lawless elements tried to bomb Undug’s house. In October 2014, the gate of Undug’s house was destroyed after an IED exploded. RAM/rga

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