Experts detonate 2 bombs

KIDAPAWAN CITY—Army experts deactivated Monday two roadside improvised explosives in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, as the government intensified its campaign against bombings in Mindanao.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, speaking for the 6th Infantry Division, said the two explosive devices were found at 9 a.m. along the national highway in Barangay Ladja, a few kilometers away from the Army’s Artillery Battalion headquarters in (village) Barangay Pigcalawan.

The bombs, fashioned from two 60-millimeter mortar cartridge with a mobile phone as trigger mechanism, were “very similar” to those used by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, which broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Residents alerted police and Army authorities about the presence of the bombs, which, Hermoso said, could be intended for passing government forces.

On Sunday night, two men set off an improvised bomb in front of a variety store in Barangay Ned, Midsayap, North Cotabato.  Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao