COTABATO CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 10 Aug) Two separate bomb explosions on Thursday rocked Kidapawan City in North Cotabato province in the southern Philippines, wounding at least one soldier, officials said.
Officials said the soldier was trying to disarm one of the bombs when it exploded in front of a building in downtown Kidapawan. The other bomb exploded outside a hotel called High Time, said Carlos Bautista, the provincial spokesman.
“We still don’t know who were behind these attacks or the motives behind the two bombings,” he told the Zamboanga Journal.
He said the explosives were assembled from mortar bombs rigged to cell phones to trigger detonation.
“The first explosion was outside the hotel at around 2 p.m. and was followed by another blast ten or fifteen minutes later just as the soldier was trying to disarm the second bomb,” Bautista said.
No group claimed responsibility for the twin attacks, but the Abu Sayyaf group tied to Jemaah Islamiya and communist insurgents are known to actively operate in the province and were involved in previous bombings in Kidapawan.
Aside from the two groups, extortion syndicates and criminal groups were also active in the province.
“Governor Emmanuel Pinol has appealed to everyone to stay vigilant and report to the authorities any suspicious persons or abandoned baggage in their areas,” Bautista said.
He said the police and military have tightened security around the province. “We ordered a tight security and more patrol around the province just to be safe,” he said.
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