Bomb blast kills 2, injures 2

Thursday, December 15, 2011

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Two still unidentified men were killed while two others were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in Poblacion, Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao Thursday morning.

Maguindanao Provincial Police Office Director Marcelo Pintac said the IED was fashioned from a mortar attached to a cellphone as triggering device.

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Investigators said one of the fatalities was a tricycle driver whom they suspect as the bomb carrier. The bomb went off prematurely and hit the bomb carrier and his companion.

The blast happened at 10:30 a.m. while a peace summit attended by local officials from different towns in Maguindanao was ongoing.

Governor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu, who was the guest of honor, and at least seven Maguindanao town mayors, who are members of the Association of Iranons and Maguindanaons-7 (AIM-7), were at the summit.

Mangudadatu said the bomb was meant for him although it was placed few kilometers from the municipal gym where he was supposed to deliver his keynote speech.

Mangudadatu is not new to these kinds of incidents, having been dogged by threats for months now.

Investigators also said the blast site is not far from the house of the late Maguindanao board member Datu Russman Sinsuat, who was killed in a roadside bombing in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, in August 2011.

Sinsuat was with the convoy of Governor Mangudadatu when the blast happened.

Authorities have blamed previous bombings in the region on Muslim rebels, militants, rival politicians and extortion gangs. (MCM of Sun.Star Davao/AP/Sunnex)