BARMM police now identifying Sulu Army camp bombers
Mindanao Armed Conflict • 18:45 PM Sat Jun 29, 2019
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By:
John M. Unson
The slain bomber and the blast site.(Contributed photo)
COTABATO CITY --- The Bangsamoro police and the military are cooperating in identifying the real plotters of Friday’s deadly bombing of an Army base in Indanan town in Sulu.
Three soldiers, three civilians and the two couriers of the improvised explosive device used in the attack perished in the incident.
The Regional Police Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said Saturday 22 others, 10 of them Army personnel, were injured in the explosion.
Brig. Gen. Marni Marcos, director of PRO-BARMM, told reporters Saturday he has directed the Sulu provincial police to enlist the help of traditional leaders and local officials in identifying the culprits.
“Our investigators are doing their best to put closure to that incident,” Marcos said.
Local officials said the two men who brought the home-made bomb that went off inside the camp of the 1st Brigade Combat Team in Tanjung in Indanan town in Sulu were hardcore members of the Abu Sayyaf.
The Abu Sayyaf operates in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
One of the sources said the attack was to avenge the deaths of more than 20 Abu Sayyaf bandits killed in encounters with pursuing units of the Armed Forces in the past three months.
Major Gen. Cirilito Sobejana of the Western Mindanao Command said Saturday military intelligence agents are now working along with police probers in trying to determine who could have masterminded the bombing.
Sobejana said all units of WestMinCom in Sulu are now guarding against a possible repeat of the atrocity.
Sulu, which is inside BARMM’s core territory, is touted as the most dangerous province in the country.
The island province is now the main bastion of the Abu Sayyaf, which has a reputation for beheading captives kidnapped outside if ransom demands are not met.
Sobejana said he will focus his leadership of WestMinCom on addressing the security problems besetting Sulu comprehensively.
“We need the help of local government units there. The military and the police cannot succeed in addressing these concerns without the support of local officials and leaders of different sectors there,” Sobejana said.