Mary Jean Lacaba
Toni GonzagaAFP: Bombers used rogue MILF’s signature
MANILA, Philippines – No one has owned up to the spate of recent bombings in several areas in Mindanao that has reportedly killed over seven people and injured dozens of others. But two of the three bomb sites have left tantalizing clues: fragments of mortar shells.
According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), the Cotabato City bombers used an 81mm mortar shell in their improvised explosive device (IED), evidence that military and police officials say is a signature of supposed rogue forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Meanwhile, Northern Mindanao police head Chief Superintendent Danilo Empedrad said the same caliber of mortar shell was used in the Iligan City bombing.
Home-made IEDs have long been a potent weapon in the anti-US insurgency in Iraq. The targets in Mindanao, however, were all civilian, including the Roman Catholic cathedral in Cotabato City.
Even as it recognized that MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu has condemned the bombing in Cotabato City, the NDCC said investigations by Cotabato City police and other authorities "revealed that the bomb explosion was perpetrated by the MILF-Special Operations Group (SOG) as per signature marks in the recovered bomb fragments."
Various military and police officials interviewed by GMANews.TV said 60 or 81 mm mortar shells and a detonating device such as a battery or a cellular phone are usually the components of IEDs made by the MILF-SOG and the Abu Sayyaf.
Mortar ammunition is a standard part of the Philippine military’s weaponry, but officers through the years have acknowledged that soldiers have occasionally sold these to their enemies. One combat veteran told GMANews.TV that when he served in Mindanao earlier in the decade, a single mortar shell could be bought for P5000.
However, that means that the armed forces too have access to the same bomb-making material.
"Everyone has the capability to make IEDs–the military, the JI (Jemaah Islamiyah), the MILF, the Abu Sayyaf. The technology is available and accessible," said Fr. Eliseo Mercado Jr., a former head of the government peace panel negotiating with the MILF, in a phone interview with GMANews.TV.
Mercado said both the military and rebel forces have the "expertise" to improvise explosive devices, adding that the Jemaah Islamiyah need not conduct special training for these groups to create them.
The combat veteran mentioned above explained that the MILF has plenty of expired mortar shells that can be turned into IEDs, citing his combat unit’s recovery of enemy weapons after battles with the MILF.
Another military officer who requested anonymity made a similar statement. "IEDs can be easily done or easily manufactured, just like [what we saw] in the Iraq experience. It can be transformed anytime, anywhere, and transported easily," he said.
AFP spokesperson Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner acknowledged that making IEDs is not too difficult, and that the military’s own bomb experts can make them. He maintained, however, that rogue elements of the MILF appear to be behind the Cotabato City blast, at least.
Superintendent Jose Bayani Gucela, a public information officer of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for Western Mindanao, said the Abu Sayyaf’s "signature" IEDs also utilize 60 or 81 mm mortar shells. However, he said Jolo police have yet to determine the type of mortar shell used in the Sulu bombing.
"[Components] probably would show na one kind of organization has done it," the officer said. "Probably it’s the same recipe, kung baga sa baking."
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