2 cops shot dead in Shariff Kabunsuan

PARANG, Shariff Kabunsuan, Philippines -- Suspected hired killers shot dead two policemen in Sultan Kudarat, Shariff Kabunsuan on Friday evening, the police said Saturday.

Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, chief of police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said PO2 Edgar Reyes Espra and PO1 Prang Andig were in a passenger van on their way to Cotabato City when attacked.

The gunmen, numbering three, were in the same van and repeatedly shot the victims when the vehicle reached Dalumangcob village, a few kilometers away from the town center, Goltiao said, witnesses.

Goltiao said investigation was still being conducted on the possible motive.
Andig, he said, was the son-in-law of Mayor Talib Abo.


1 killed, 5 injured in Tawi-Tawi market shooting

Three gunmen opened fire inside the public market of Bongao, Tawi-Tawi around noon Saturday, killing one person and injuring five others.

Senior Superintendent Winright Taup, Tawi-Tawi police chief, said the gunmen had apparently targeted the fatality, identified only as Gulam Sahil.

"It could have been personal grudge," he said.

Taup said the five injured victims, one of them a vacationing soldier, were caught in the crossfire but it was not immediately clear if it was Sahil who engaged the gunmen in a firefight.

Senior Inspector Byron Allatog, Bongao police chief, said witnesses managed to identify one of the gunmen and that a hunt has been launched against him and his companions.


Alleged terrorist nabbed;

Jolo, Sulu. A suspected bomber with links to the Jemaah Islamiyah was arrested by government security forces here, the police announced Saturday.

Senior Inspector Usman Ali Pingay, Jolo police chief, said Rening Kamlon Sabdani alias Rening Asmaruddin was the main suspect in the March 1 explosion near the military headquarters here that wounded six people, two of them soldiers.

Pingay said Sabdani, 39, was arrested during a raid by police and military personnel on a house in Barangay (village) Bus-bus on March 8.

"He was having a drink with another companion when we came around 3 p.m. His companion managed to escape," Pingay said.

He said Pingay said Sabdani's arrest was not immediately publicized because he was under tactical interrogation.

He described the suspect as a member of the notorious Abu Sayyaf Group. "We have already filed charges against him," Pingay said.


Soldiers foil bomb attack

In Datu Odin Sinsuat, Shariff Kabunsuan province, soldiers reportedly foiled a bomb attack after they seized an explosive and arrested a suspected terrorist on Tuesday.

Lieutenant Colonel Julieto Ando, spokesperson of the 6th Infantry Division based in the that province, said the soldiers were manning a checkpoint in Makar village when they discovered a powerful improvised bomb while inspecting a passenger vehicle from nearby a town around noon.

He said the checkpoint was set up after the military received information that a bomb attack was to be carried out in one of the province's towns.

Ando said the explosive, fashioned out of a 60-millimeter live mortar shell, was placed in a traveling bag inside the baggage compartment of the passenger van that was being inspected.

Ando said the bomb had a blasting cap and was packed with about a kilo of three-inch concrete nails and explosive powder.

"It was fitted with a cellphone as detonator and a timer powered by a nine-volts battery," he said.

Ando said the suspected bomber, Saudi Abdul Ibrahim of Sultan Kudarat town, also in Shariff Kabunsuan, was arrested.

He said the make of the bomb was similar to the ones exploded by terrorists affiliated with the Jemaah Islamiyah in Central Mindanao but he could not say if the suspect was a member of any of the JI-affiliated groups operating in the region and other parts of Mindanao.

Ando said the suspect was immediately turned over to the local police for further investigation.