DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/19 August) — An improvised explosive device went off in Barangay Nes, Midsayap, North Cotabato around 9:00 p.m. Sunday.
No one was reported injured or killed in the second blast that hit the town this month, police said.
According to Midsayap police chief Supt. Reinante Delos Santos in a phone interview, the bomb exploded in front of a sari-sari store owned by Jeffrey Fontanilla, damaging its roof and concrete wall.
Police investigation revealed that before the explosion two unidentified men bought cigarettes and candies at the store and left on board a Bajaj motorcycle towards the national highway.
The Army’s 66th Explosive Ordinance Disposal Division said the bomb was made of a 60 mm mortar and a cellphone was used as the triggering device.
No one has claimed responsibility for the incident.
On August 7, 2013, a bomb also exploded in front of a pawnshop in Midsayap. No one was injured in the blast.
Aside from the latest blast in Midsayap, at least five other explosions have rocked parts of Mindanao since late last month.
Eight persons were killed and 46 others were injured in the Cagayan de Oro City blast in a resto-bar in Rosario Arcade, Limketkai Center on July 26.
Another eight people were killed and 30 were injured in Cotabato City on August 5 in a bombing that apparently targeted city administrator Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi.
Seven soldiers were injured in Shariff Saydona Mustapha town in Maguindanao on August 7. There were no reported casualties in the explosion of improvised bombs in Midsayap, North Cotabato and Datu Piang in Maguindanao on August 7. (Karlo Ballentes/MindaNews)