TWO people, including a soldier, were wounded while the town mayor was unscathed in a roadside bombing in Tuburan, Basilan province.
Tuburan Police Chief Said Omar Ismael said the incident occurred around 2:45 p.m. Saturday, February 4, in Sitio Sawiti in the village of Calut, Tuburan, Basilan.
Ismael identified the wounded soldier as Corporal Christian Ibarreta of the Army’s 3rd Scout Ranger Battalion and Misuari Jamiri, the driver of Tuburan Mayor Durie Kallahal.
Colonel Cirilo Donato, commander of the Basilan-based Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade, said Kallahal was unscathed since he disembarked before his vehicle tripped on an improvised explosive device planted as a landmine.
The pick-up type vehicle of Kallahal was riddled with shrapnel holes and its left rear tire was blown off as a result of the roadside bomb explosion.
Kallahal, accompanied by 3rd Scout Ranger Battalion troops, went to Sitio Sawiti in the village of Calut to inspect the blast site where another bomb exploded around 10:15 a.m. Saturday.
Ismael said no one was either killed or wounded in the 10:15 a.m. incident since the bomb exploded in a vacant lot.
Kallahal and the same troops were about to conduct a medical mission in downtown Tuburan at that time.
Authorities strongly believed that the roadside bombing was the handiwork of the Abu Sayyaf Group since Kallahal is a known enemy of the bandit group. (SunStar Philippines)