COTABATO CITY- Suspected Moro rebels set off a roadside improvised explosive device in Maguindanao yesterday morning that left a soldier wounded, the Army here said.
Corporal Edwin Lamorese was slightly wounded when suspected members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) set off an improvised bomb fashioned from a 60mm mortar round in Barangay Madidis, Datu Paglas, Maguindanao.
Lamorese and a member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu) were responding to a report by villagers about a suspected IED at a dirt road in Barangay Madidis at 6 a.m. when it was set off using a mobile phone as trigger mechanism.
Col. Roy Galido, 38th Infantry Battalion commander, said Lamorese, leader of the militiamen attached to the 38th IB, was slightly wounded in the explosion.
Galido believed the IEDs were intended for militiamen and soldiers who have been manning checkpoints at which all passing vehicles have been subjected to inspection.
He said the explosive was planted along a grassy side of the highway, some 100 meters away from a detachment of the Cafgu, which was manned by militiamen under Lamorese.
Galido said Lamorese sustained shrapnel injuries in the body but was declared out of danger by the Datu Paglas municipal hospital. He returned to his detachment after receiving first aid.