Grenade blast rocks North Cotabato anew, hurts 1

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- A militiaman manning a detachment along the national highway in Pikit, North Cotabato was wounded when a fragmentation grenade went off Monday.

Lieutenant Aries dela Cuadra, commander of the Charlie Company of the 7th Infantry Battalion, identified the wounded member of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu) as Tirso Wakan.

Wakan sustained shrapnel wounds in different parts of his body.

Dela Cuadra said that minutes before the grenade blast, witnesses saw two suspects, on board a motorcycle without a license plate number, stopped just few feet away from the Cafgu detachment.

Minutes later, at 4 a.m., they heard a loud blast.

The blast was the second since the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) launched attacks against the military and other government installations in Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces in August.

On August 23, BIFM rebels lobbed a grenade inside a Cafgu detachment that wounded three militiamen and a civilian.

Police, however, are clueless if Monday's attack was initiated by the BIFM.

"The BIFM rebels are already on the run. We could not ascertain if this grenade blast was their handiwork. We are still investigating," said Senior Inspector Elias Dandan, chief of the Pikit police.

A team composed of 30 soldiers launched a manhunt operation, in coordination with the police, against the suspects. (With Ivy C. Tejano of Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)