Guard foils bomb attack in SK market
ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat – A security guard averted what could have been a bloody Monday morning here after he was able to report to police that suspicious-looking men left a bag at a local market.
The bag turned out to contain a bomb, which later exploded as police bomb experts were cordoning the area.
The guard saved the lives of innocent people because of his vigilance,” said Sr. Supt. Raul Supiter, Sultan Kudarat police provincial director.
According to Supiter, the guard first saw three men arrive at the market onboard a motorcycle at around 1:30 a.m.
They had with them a black bag, which they left in a spot where military personnel would usually park their vehicle while going to market.
Sensing that the three men had ill motive for arriving at the market at such an early hour, the guard confronted the three men, asking them what was in the bag.
But the three men hurriedly left, leaving behind the bag and the motorcycle they arrived in.
The guard then alerted the local police, which arrived with its bomb disposal team.
It was when the bomb experts were cordoning off the area that the bomb inside the bag exploded. No one was hurt.
Supiter said the guard requested that his identity be kept confidential for security reasons.
The motorbike is now in police custody and authorities are coordinating with the local Land Transportation Office (LTO) to determine the ownership of the vehicle
Supiter theorized that bomb could have been meant for soldiers who usually did their marketing chores at dawn every day.
He said the intended bomb attack could have been in retaliation by lawless elements who were the subject of military operations in Barangay Bual, about 20 kilometers from the town's central market.
At least 11 bandits have been killed in a joint police and Army operations in Barangay Bual since last week.
Goverment forces were to serve warrants of arrest against a certain Kagi Dimas, alias "Commander Dragon," who was into illegal mining and extortion activities in the village of Bual.