2 soldiers hurt in gun, IED attack in Basilan
Mindanao Armed Conflict • 15:00 PM Tue Aug 31, 2021
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By:
John M. Unson
Probers are still clueless on who the culprits were. (Video grab, Richard Falcatan)
COTABATO CITY --- Gunmen on motorcycles set off a bomb near an Army detachment in Lamitan City, Basilan and shot two soldiers before they fled carting the M203 rifle of one of the two victims.
Reports reaching the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) in nearby Parang town in Maguindanao province identified the wounded soldiers as Cpl. Cyrus Bunda and Pvt. Arny Vember Basco, who both belong to the Army’s 68th Infantry Battalion.
Bunda and Basco were guarding a roadside detachment in Campo Uno in Lamitan City when the suspects set off the improvised explosive device just few meters away and, subsequently, attacked them with pistols.
Both soldiers sustained bullet wounds in different parts of their bodies.
One of the three suspects took the M203 rifle of Bunda before they hurriedly escaped on board motorcycles.
Brig. Gen. Eden Ugale, director of the PRO-BAR, said the Lamitan City police has enlisted the help of barangay officials and witnesses in identifying the culprits.
The suspects were last seen motoring towards Barangay Cabobo in Lamitan City.