At least 10 die in blast at Basilan checkpoint

Responding police officers check the site of a bombing at a military checkpoint in Lamitan City, Basilan province Tuesday, July 31. At least 10 people, including the alleged bomber and four civilians, were killed. PHOTO BY RASUL ISMAEL VIA PEEWEE BACUÑO FOR GMA NEWS

MANILA – A van exploded at a military checkpoint in Basilan province Tuesday in what the Armed Forces of the Philippines has identified as a case of suicide bombing likely perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf.

At least 10 people died while five others were injured in the blast at around 5:55 a.m. near the Magwakit Detachment in Barangay Colonia in the capital city of Lamitan, said AFP Western Mindanao Command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana.

Among the casualties were five members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit, a soldier, four civilians including a 10-year-old, and the driver of the van.

Government troops stopped the van and spoke to the driver right before the explosion, Besana said.

“We can say that this is a case of suicide bombing since the driver (of the van) was one of the casualties,” the AFP official said. “He detonated the bomb when he sensed the danger of being arrested.”

The AFP WestMinCom is committed to “exhaust every available resource under its disposal” to identify the perpetrators of the attack at “the soonest possible time,” he added.

Meanwhile AFP spokesman Edgard Arevalo, in a news conference in Camp Aguinaldo, suspected that the Abu Sayyaf unit in Basilan under their commander Furuji Indama was behind the explosion.

“This group of Furuji Indama is swiftly losing ground so they are now resorting to desperate moves to disrupt the mass surrender of Abu Sayyaf members in Basilan,” said Arevalo.

Intelligence report that reached the AFP said the Abu Sayyaf intended to plant explosives in various parts of Basilan, he said. “These are speculations. The investigation is still ongoing.”

Basilan governor Jim Saliman said in a television interview that he has received reports that terrorist group Abu Sayyaf was the one responsible for the incident but did not elaborate.

Basilan is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf and home to the former “emir” of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia, Isnilon Hapilon, who was killed during the war in Marawi City last year.

Abu Sayyaf is known for taking hostages and beheading Western captives for whom ransom is not paid. President Rodrigo Duterte has recently offered peace talks with the terrorist group./PN

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