Alert civilians, police foil bomb blast in Sultan Kudarat

ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat – Civilians and police authorities prevented on Wednesday night what could have been a bloody culmination program of a festival here when they foiled a bombing attempt.

Sultan Kudarat Police Director Senior Supt. Raul Supiter said alert civilians discovered the improvised explosive device while gathering by the roadside in Barangay Kalawag – outside the provincial capitol – for the culmination of the weeklong “Kalimudan Festival.”

He said the police was immediately alerted, and bomb experts were quickly deployed and disarmed the IED, which was made of black powder, cut nails, and metal sheets with torch as triggering device, at past 9:30 p.m.

Supiter said the bomb was placed by still unidentified men in the middle of parked vehicles near the main entrance of the provincial capitol grounds, the venue of the culminating program.

According to the police official, the IED could blow up a car and could send its metal shrapnel flying to as far as 500 meters away had it exploded.

No suspect had been identified as of this posting.

This was the latest in the series of bomb attacks in the province.

Several attempts to set off explosives here had also been foiled in the past.

But in November 2015, 15 people were injured when a grenade blew up just outside the capitol compound while an agri-trade fair was being held.                  /kga