2 roadside bombs kill 1, wound 7 in Maguindanao

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao – A policeman was killed while seven other military and police personnel were hurt in separate roadside bombings in Maguindanao on Sunday and Monday, authorities said.

Killed in Sunday’s 8 p.m. explosion here was Senior Police Officer Max Kaibat. He died while undergoing operation at the Maguindanao Provincial Hospital here, a few meters away from the blast site.

Injured were Police Officer 3 Jalison Abdullah and Police Officers 1 Archie Ansare Amelista, Ricardo Almonia, Alimodin Nuphay and Zainoden Abdullah, all from this town’s police force.

Senior Supt. Agustin Tello, the Maguindanao police director, said the lawmen were on patrol in a police vehicle during the New Years’ Eve revelry in Barangay Poblacion when a bomb went off.

Tello said the attack could have been done by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).

At 7:34 a.m. on Monday, another bomb went off as soldiers on a truck were patrolling Barangay Limpongo in nearby Datu Hofer town.

Two soldiers were hurt by the blast. /cbb