MILF member killed, 5 others wounded in separate Mindanao explosions

COTABATO CITY — A member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front was killed while five others from the group were wounded in separate explosions in Cotabato and Maguindanao del Sur provinces on Thursday.

In separate reports on Friday, the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police Office and the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade stated that a group of some 10 MILF members were supposed to proceed to somewhere on foot via a farm trail in Barangay Pindetin in Salibo town when a roadside bomb planted along the route exploded, causing the death of the guerilla Patuna Dimalen Pigi.

Pigi died from shrapnel wounds due to the bombing. His companions blame the explosion on the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a local terrorist group that has a strong presence in Salibo, one of the more than 20 towns in Maguindanao del Sur.

Several hours later, five members of the MILF’s 118th Base Command were hurt also in an explosion inside a makeshift shelter in their camp in Barangay Bagolibas in Aleosan town in Cotabato province.

The Aleosan Municipal Police Station on Friday reported to Cotabato provincial police director Col. Harold Ramos that the injured MILF members, Abdulbaser Mamintal, Nor Minandang, Moslimen Usop, Hasan Kalano and Ronald Arellano, were all brought to the Aleosan District Hospital by companions and barangay officials for treatment.

The victims have reportedly told policemen investigating the incident that someone fired at them from a distance a grenade projectile using a launcher.