Materials for powerful IEDs recovered in North Cotabato

NORTH COTABATO --- Soldiers recovered Wednesday five mortar rounds militants were to convert into roadside bombs to be detonated in different spots in North Cotabato province.Captain Arvin Encinas, public affairs officer of the Army’s 6thInfantry Division said Thursday the five 81 millimeter projectiles were found by personnel of the 602ndBrigade in Barangay Kibayao in Carmen, North Cotabato.The explosives were to be brought to the town proper of Carmen by two suspected members of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters on a motorcycle who turned around when they noticed a roadblock manned by soldiers ahead. They left the mortar round, placed inside a bag, on a grassy area and sped away, Encinas said.The BIFF, which operates in the fashion of the Islamic State, is blamed for all the bombings in central Mindanao since 2010.It is feared for its practice of venting its ire on non-military targets to avenge losses in encounters with units of 6thID.The 6thID covers central Mindanao’s adjoining Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces and several towns in Lanao del Sur.The recovery in Carmen of the materials for IEDs was preceded by the prompt deactivation by bomb disposal experts of a powerful home-made explosive in Tacurong City four days before.The IED found near the entrance to the Griño Elementary School in Tacurong City was fashioned from a 105 Howitzer cannon shell, rigged with a detonator that can be set off from a distance using mobile phone. It was just fortunate that the IED was spotted by passersby, enabling authorities to dismantle it promptly, Encinas said.Residents of Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province have experienced a series of bloody IED attacks by the outlawed BIFF in recent months.