DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) - Suspected leftist
rebels detonated two improvised bombs along a road in a southern
Philippine city early today, barely missing a passing convoy of military
and civilian vehicles, a military official said.
No one was hurt following the 6:25 a.m. blasts at San Mateo village,
Kidapawan city, in Mindanao's North Cotabato province, " but several
civilian commuters have been traumatized," according to Colonel Leopoldo
Galon, Eastern Mindanao Command spokesperson.
The loud explosions rocked the village as a military truck carrying
soldiers of the army's 57th Infantry Battalion, a mini- jeepney and two
motorcycles full of civilians were passing by, said Galon.
"Everyone escaped the blasts but the civilian commuters were
terrified," the military official told Xinhua by text message, adding
the incident happened near a populated area just several kilometers from
the city proper.
Galon suspected New People's Army rebels could be behind the latest
attack as it happened just days after a series of clashes between
government troops and the leftist rebels in the province that left six
people dead.
He said the provincial army commander Colonel Cesar Sedillo was
readying the filing of criminal charges against the NPA for allegedly
employing landmines, long banned by the Ottawa Treaty which both the
Philippine government and the insurgents' political umbrella Communist
Party of the Philippines were signatories.
The 4,000-strong NPA is fighting a leftist insurgency in 60 Philippine provinces since March 29, 1969.
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The Philippine Star | April 1, 2012 | Article Link
