Another grenade hits Cotabato City police station

COTABATO CITY -- Unidentified men lobbed a hand grenade at the roof of Police Station 2
along Sinsuat Avenue, this city Monday afternoon.

It was the
second grenade attack on a police station since Saturday night.

Nobody was
hurt in the 3:45 p.m. attack since the grenade failed to explode, according to
Senior Insp. Carlo Jurinario, station 2 chief.

Jurinario said
police operatives heard a loud thud at the roof of police station 2 located at
the corner of Sinsuat Avenue and Ramon Rabago Avenue. When checked, they found a live hand grenade
minus its safety lever.

He did not say
why the grenade failed to go off.

On Saturday night,
unidentified men also tossed a smoke grenade at the roof of Traffic Management
Unit office, just beside police station 1 and at the back of police lock up
cell.

Senior Insp.
Roel Zafra, speaking for the Cotabato City police office, said investigation
showed the smoke grenade could be part of a plot to rescue” some of the
detainees from the lock-up cell.

Zafra said the
smoke grenade could not injure anyone with shrapnel but the smoke it produces
is harmful to human health and dangerous.

Jurinario said
the attack on police offices here could be part of a diversionary tactic of
ISIS inspired groups in Lanao del Sur or a retaliatory attempt against lawmen
for its intensified anti-drug operation in the city.

A local terror
group, identified as Maute lawless group, was believed to be behind the attack
at Lanao Sur provincial jail in Marawi City where eight members were rescued.

We remain on
alert, our anti-drug operation will continue,” Jurinario said. (Ferdinandh
Cabrera)