Powerful blastSenior Supt. Rolen Balquin, city police director, said the explosion was so powerful it lopped off the heads of two of the victims.
He said most of the victims were motorists who were passing by a funeral home on Sinsuat Avenue where a van, parked earlier by a still unidentified man, exploded.
The bomb was apparently rigged to the van, Balquin said.
He said a portion of the funeral parlor, an adjoining establishment, and two motor vehicles parked near the van were destroyed in the fire that followed the explosion.
Among those killed was Chief Insp. Mama Manambuay of the Maguindanao police intelligence unit. His companion, Chief Insp. Abubakar Mangelen, was among the wounded.
All the injured were taken to the Cotabato Regional Medical Center (CRMC).
Balquin said the bomb went off at the height of the afternoon rush hour, adding that the site of the explosion was significant as it was close to the medical center and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) compound.
BIFF warningThe explosion occurred after the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a splinter group of the MILF, warned of attacks, particularly on military installations, until a “genuine Bangsamoro state†had been achieved.
The BIFF opposes the preliminary peace deal between the government and the MILF for the establishment of a Bangsamoro autonomous region in Mindanao.
Government and MILF negotiators have said they hope to conclude a final peace agreement by yearend.
Balquin said investigators could not say whether the explosion here could be linked to the BIFF warning, which came a week after a bomb attack in Cagayan de Oro City that killed eight people and injured 46 others.—
With reports from Nash Maulana, Inquirer Mindanao; and AP
Originally posted at 6:55 p.m.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=74424.0
Topic: 6 killed in Cotabato City blast (Read 1035 times)