IS terrorists try to bomb Philippine power transmission tower
Authorities say the pro-IS Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters attempted the bombing attack.
NORTH COTABATO: The Philippine Army and police bomb disposal squads have thwarted an attempt allegedly by a pro-IS terror group to topple a power transmission tower in the southern province of North Cotabato, officials said Tuesday.
Lt. Col. Rowel Gavilanes, the Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion commander, in a statement, said the bomb disposal teams safely disarmed three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) attached to Tower 39 of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) in Sitio Punol, Batulawan village, Pikit municipality, Monday.
Gavilanes said at about 8:30am, a mild explosion occurred in Sitio Punol. Civilians who heard the blast alerted authorities about it.
“We sent troops to check on the blast and they found three more bombs attached to the NGCP steel tower,” Gavilanes said.
The bombs were rigged from two mortar explosives and a rocket-propelled grenade head duct-taped together to a mobile phone as a trigger mechanism.
Security in the locality has been raised following the bombing attempt.
Lt. Col. John Miridel Calinga, the municipal police station chief, said the EIDs bore the signature style of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters operating in the area.
“It was not meant to harm civilians but only the NGCP tower,” Calinga said, adding that the site is far from residential areas.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Alex Rillera, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander, has placed all Army units in Central Mindanao on alert to ensure the safety of communities.
Rillera, also the commander of Joint Task Force Central, said the plot could have caused massive power service interruption had it not been averted in parts of North Cotabato, Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte provinces.
The discovery of IEDs in North Cotabato came a day after residents of Kadigasan village, Midsayap municipality, also in North Cotabato, found a homemade bomb fashioned from an 81-mm mortar explosive. Bomb experts safely deactivated the ordnance.