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AMID HAMUNGAYA FESTIVAL

1 dead, 36 hurt as bomb explodes in Sultan Kudarat


One person died and 36 were injured after a bomb went off in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat in the middle of a town festival on Tuesday night.

Senior Superintendent Noel Kinazo, newly installed commander of the police provincial police, said the bomb went off around 8:34 p.m. near a gas station in Barangay Kalawag 3, where night activities are ongoing for the Hamungaya Festival in commemoration of the 61st founding anniversary of the town.

Reports from the office of Isulan Mayor Marites Pallasigue said at least 36 were hurt and one died.

Judy Sapto, a resident of Isulan who happened to witness the explosion while attending festival activities, narrated that she was traumatized to see an injured young girl carried hurriedly by her father.

“That was loud. We immediately left the area but I can’t forget the images of a young girl carried by her father who seems badly hit by shrapnel as her shirt is full of blood,” she narrated.

People in the area were advised to leave the place as two more bombs planted were later diffused by bomb experts a few minutes after the first explosion.

Two Army soldiers from the 1st Mechanized Brigade were among the wounded.

The explosion took place as an army truck happened to pass by.

There were three Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) in the area. The one that exploded was placed on a motorcycle that was parked near an ukay-ukay store. The other two IEDs were defused, one near a bank while the location of the third bomb was not yet verified.

The three IEDs were placed close to each other in an area near the town hall. Employees were not allowed to leave the building as authorities cleared the area following the explosion.

“It seems the enemies are targeting the security forces guarding the festival activity,” Captain Arvin Encinas of the Army’s 6th Division said.

Asked if any group could be behind this sabotage, "It's obvious that the group of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) with links to ISIS (Islamic State) has the strongest desire to initiate this kind of attacks," he stressed.

The military admitted they have been on red alert for a long time.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao at the height of the Marawi Siege as ISIS-inspired groups planned to establish a regional state in the Philippines for their terror mission.  —NB/BAP/KG, GMA News

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