5 Marines critically wounded in Maguindanao IED blast

COTABATO CITY - Five members of the Philippine Marine Corps' Battalion Team-5 were critically wounded after an improvised explosive device was detonated before 8 p.m., Friday in Datu Hoffer town, Maguindanao.

According to Maguindanao Provincial Police Director Colonel Arnold Santiago, the Marines were on a military truck, having just come from Ampatuan town where an operation had been launched against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), when they were caught in the IED blast.

The IED, believed to be made from an 81mm mortar round, was planted a few meters away from the Maguindanaio Provincial Hospital and the police provincial headquarters in Camp Akilan in Shariff Aguak town, where an IED attack last month struck a police convoy.

The Maguindanao Provincial Hospital was heavily guarded by Marines as of this posting.

Joint-Task Force Central launched air assaults and a ground offensive against the BIFF early Friday morning.  — DVM, GMA News