Dawlah bombing plot in Maguindanao foiled
Mindanao Armed Conflict • 17:45 PM Fri Jul 3, 2020
1
By:
John M. Unson
Bomb experts promptly deactivated the bomb hidden under the seat of the suspect's motorcycle. (Contributed)
COTABATO CITY --- Authorities foiled Friday an attempt by a Dawlah Islamiya member to smuggle a home-made bomb from Datu Saudi town to somewhere south of Maguindanao province.
Bomb courier Alimudin Unggala was intercepted by combined personnel of the Maguindanao provincial police and agents of military intelligence units in Barangay Madia in Datu Saudi, Maguindanao riding a motorcycle en route to Shariff Aguak town in the same province.
The joint police-military team that flagged him down found out that his motorcycle was rigged with a large improvised explosive device with a blasting mechanism that can be detonated from a distance using a mobile phone.
The bomb was hidden underneath the seat of Unggala’s motorcycle.
Brig Gen. Manuel Abu of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said Ungalla is now undergoing tactical interrogation.
He was to bring his bomb-laden motorcycle to somewhere south of Maguindanao province, according to Abu.
Police and Army intelligence sources said Unggalla is a henchman of Imam Bongos, leader of one of three factions in the Dawlah Islamiya.
The Dawlah Islamiya, also known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, is tagged in all deadly bombings in central Mindanao since 2016.