Bomb-carrying car discovered in Marawi

MARAWI CITY – Soldiers intercepted Friday a car that was reportedly on its way to transport an improvised explosive device (IED) to Cagayan de Oro City or other parts of Northern Mindanao.

The Marawi City-based Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade said a white Toyota Innova, which did not have license plates, was abandoned by its driver and other passengers shortly after Friday noon at Barangay Madaya Lilod here when pursuing troops blocked the suburb’s exit and entry channels.

Troops discovered a105mm howitzer ammunition, rigged with a cellular phone and triggering wires, among other contents in the van that included a conduction sticker YM 649, fatigue uniforms and documents bearing signs related to the terrorist Islamic State (IS), said two officers of the Army’s 103rd Brigade, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter.

The sources said investigators traced the conduction sticker to a member of the jihadist Maute group long wanted in Bayang, Lanao del Sur.

The jihadist group, led by brothers Omar and Abdullah Maute, was subjected to series of military operations this year that resulted in the killing of dozens of bandits and soldiers and the displacement of hundreds of families in Bayang town.

The group had claimed responsibility in the firing of an M-79 grenade that destroyed a concrete fence of the 103rd Infantry Brigade in early July.

The white Innova had long been subject of military surveillance as a transport unit used by the Maute group, a local conduit of the IS-leaning Khilafah Islamiyah Movement (KIM), the informants said. (Ali G. Macabalang)