Philippine Army foils bombing in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Philippine military said it prevented an attack in the southern province of Sulu after soldiers diffused an improvised explosive planted on a roadside in Patikul town.

The 11th Infantry Division announced the news late Sunday eight hours after soldiers recovered the explosive in the village of Anuling following a tip off from civilians who discovered the bomb.

Photos released by the 11th Infantry Division show the diffused improvised explosive recovered in Anuling village in Sulu's Patikul town on Sunday, February 27, 2022. 

Quoting a report by Col. Giovanni Franza, commander of the 1102^nd Infantry Brigade, it said the improvised explosive was made from four liters of ANFO or ammonium nitrate mixed with fuel oil and dozens of four inch nails and two inch steel bars with three electric blasting caps and a detonator.

 

“After cordoning the area and confirming the presence of the IED, it was then subsequently diffused and successfully recovered,” it said. “The improvised explosive device was intended to inflict casualty on government troops and target individuals as collateral, but through the combined efforts of Joint Task Force-Sulu and cooperation of the residents of Barangay Anuling, the attempt of conducting atrocity was prevented. The captured IED was immediately turned over to PNP-Provincial Explosive Canine Unit - Sulu for investigation and appropriate disposition.”

 

Brig. Gen. Ignatius Patrimonio, commander of the 11^th Infantry Division and the Joint Task Force Sulu, commended members of the 35^th Infantry Battalion who quickly responded to the area.

 

He did not say who planted the improvised explosive, but said: “We will continue to hunt down the people behind this in creating a terrorist act. “We’ve been tightening our efforts in suppressing this terrorist group. The JTF-Sulu will continue to put an end to terrorism here in this province in the soonest time possible. We will continue to coordinate with the police and other local government agencies,” he said.

 

The Abu Sayyaf terrorists are actively operating in Patikul and were blamed by the military for previous bombings and attacks on civilian targets.  

 

Patrimonio said since August 2020, the task force pre-empted bombing attempts in the province. “To recall, the last twin bombings attack was on 24 August 2020 dubbed as twin bombing. Since then, the JTFS had pre-empted bombing attempts and will continue to do so even today. We will not stop until we zero-in the enemy and their leadership. We will continue to do our mandate and strengthen our capabilities to perform our duties to protect our fellow Filipino here in the province of Sulu,” he said, referring to the twin suicide bombings in the capital town of Jolo.

 

Two Indonesian female bombers carried out the daring attacks that left dozens of casualties, mostly civilians.

 

One of the bombers was an Indonesian widow of Abu Sayyaf suicide bomber Norman Lasuca, who blew himself up outside a military base and killed 8 people in Sulu’s Indanan town 2019. The other bomber was the wife of an Abu Sayyaf explosives expert Talha Jumsa, who was also slain in a clash with soldiers in Patikul town.

 

A parked motorcycle rigged with explosives was detonated near two military trucks and the second bomber detonated her explosives while soldiers and policemen were rushing to the scene to aid the victims. (Mindanao Examiner)