2 die, 1 hurt in Maguindanao mysterious blast

MAGUINDANAO --- Two Moro men were killed while another was injured in a mysterious explosion in Datu Piang town at past 3and00 p.m. Thursday.The fatalities were identified as Abusama Guiamin, 26 and Abdullah Mamatanto, 21, both ethnic Maguindanaons.The slain farmers and a companion, Katib Mamatanto, were in a rice field in Barangay Dasawao in Datu Piang town in the second district of Maguindanao when an explosive went off exactly right on their position.The injured Mamatanto, 26, now confined in a hospital in nearby Pikit town in North Cotabato, told police probers he and his two companions were guarding a farm in Barangay Dasawao from wild pigs when they were hit by a powerful blast.Local officials said the mysterious explosion need a deeper look by investigators.There is presence in Barangay Dasawao of Islamic State-inspired militants belonging to the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.The barangay, dotted with swamps and flooded fields that connect to the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta, was scene of recent deadly clashes between BIFF gunmen and combined guerillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and state security forces.Members of the municipal peace and order councils in Datu Piang and nearby Datu Saudi, Salibo and Saidona towns, also in Maguindanao, said there are talks circulating that the explosive that killed the two men in Barangay Dasawao could be one of the dozens of landmines planted in the area by BIFF bomb-makers.BIFF bombers killed using roadside bombs more than a dozen pursuing MILF guerillas from June to August last year.Lt. Col. Gerry Besana, spokesman of the Army-led anti-terror Task Force Central, said intelligence agents are now helping the police investigate on the incident. There are reports coming in from civilian informants regarding that incident but with different scenarios. We will help investigate on that mysterious incident. There was no reported Army operation in the area at that time, he said.