Army, police raise alert status after Cotabato City Maundy Thursday bombing
Peace and Order • 13:15 PM Fri Apr 2, 2021
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By:
John M. Unson
Security has markedly been tight in Cotabato City, meant to deter bomb attacks. (John Unson)
COTABATO CITY --- Authorities have tightened security in the city to prevent a repeat of the bombing on Thursday night that injured three residents.
The Task Force Kutawato of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and the Cotabato City police are still trying to determine who could have perpetrated the bomb attack that triggered tension among the local communities.
Police Col. Rommel Javier, director of the Cotabato City police, said Friday blast victims Yusoph Talusan Kalim, Marguiana Kalim and Azmad Cader were immediately rushed to a hospital for treatment.
They sustained shrapnel wounds in different parts of their bodies.
The victims were together whiling away time along a thoroughfare in Barangay Mother Bagua here when an improvised explosive device left on the sidewalk went off, hurting the three of them.
Another IED was found near the blast scene that responding Army and police bomb experts immediately destroyed using an explosive disruptor.
The second explosive was more powerful, fashioned from three mortar projectiles rigged with a detonator that can be set off from a distance using a mobile phone.
Lt. Col. John Paul Baldomar, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said military intelligence agents are helping the city police investigate on the incident.
The Cotabato City police deployed personnel in strategic spots to prevent a repeat of Thursday night’s bombing that caused tension among the local communities.