Explosion rocks INC compound in Cotabato

(Update) KIDAPAWAN, Philippines – A unidentified person lobbed a fragmentation grenade inside the compound of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) in Kabacan, Cotabato, at around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, police said. It was the second explosion to hit the town since Tuesday. No one was injured during the blast but shrapnels destroyed the church windows. The blast was also the third attack against the church since November 2008, records showed. On Nov 27, bystanders recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) in front of the church, which is about 20 meters away from the national highway. Two days later, another IED was discovered in front of the church. On Tuesday, around 7:20 p.m., a grenade fired from an M203 exploded on the roof of JBMEC Hardware located Rizal Avenue in Kabacan. No one was also injured during the blast, Kabacan PNP said. Senior Inspector Franklin Anito, chief of Kabacan PNP, had ruled out business rivalry as among the motives after the hardware store owner told authorities he has not received any threats from any of his competitors. Police, however, are trying to find out if the Red Scorpion, one of the extortion groups operating in central Mindanao, has anything to do with the Tuesday blast. A police official in Cotabato province (formerly North Cotabato) hinted an armed group out to sow terror in the province could be behind the series of explosions. - Malu Cadelina Manar