ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Investigators are probing a possible link between a splinter group of a one-time rebel outfit involved in a peace process with the government and an explosion that killed 10 people and injured 42 others in the southern Philippines.
Armed Forces spokesman Col. Resty Padilla told reporters in Camp Agunaldo, Metro Manila on Wednesday that an extremist outfit may be behind the incident as an improvised explosive device (IED) was found to have been used in the bombing of the Rural Transit Mindanao Inc. bus the day before.
Authorities have blamed the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) for a similar attack on a bus in Tacurog City in November. An IED was used in that explosion; detonated via a mobile phone.
The distance between the November explosion and Tuesday's blast is around one kilometer. Investigators have said they found pieces of mortar shell and the circuit board of a cellular phone at Tuesday's blast site.
"It's hard to speculate but there is a connection to extremist movements around the area," added Padilla.
BIFF are a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has signed up to a peace deal to establish a Bangsamoro entity in Mindanao to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and implement the Bangsamoro Basic Law in return for it renouncing violence and decommissioning its arms.
Turkey has a leading role in the process, in particular the decommissioning of the Front’s weaponry. During a visit earlier this month, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu pledged his support.
BIFF, however, has vowed to sabotage the process and to continue fighting for full Bangsamoro independence.
In a press release Wednesday, the National Youth Commission said the bombing of the bus in Bukidnon province - whose victims were mostly students - is meant to “thwart” the ongoing peace process in Mindanao.
“This is a heinous crime and those behind it must be brought to justice,” said Commission Chairperson Gio Tingson. “Harming young people and civilians are acts of terrorism."
The explosion occurred outside Central Mindanao University as students were going home. Four of the fatalities were from the university. Authorities originally placed the number of dead at 11 but lowered it to 10 Wednesday noon.
The driver has said he picked up passengers at the main gate of the university and did not notice who could have planted the bomb, which investigators said was placed inside a sack and left in a bus compartment.
With the Bangsamoro Basic Law making progress in Congress, Tingson warned in Wednesday's release of “efforts to thwart the peace process in Mindanao.”
“We must secure that the peace process is not jeopardized,” urged Tingson.
The Commission has conducted consultation among Mindanao-based youth groups on the Basic Law and pushes for youth representation in the Bangsamoro government.
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