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Explosion rocks COA office in North Cotabato


(Updated 1:46 p.m.) An improvised explosive device placed inside sacks of bananas blasted the entrance of the Commission on Audit (COA) office in North Cotabato on Monday morning, a military official said. Col. Prudencio Asto, Public Affairs chief of the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the explosion occurred along the national highway near the COA satellite office in Barangay Amas in Kidapawan City at 8:20 a.m. Monday. No casualties were reported due to the explosion, although a electrical post was damaged, he added. Elements of the military who responded to the incident recovered at the site of the explosion materials used to make the IED such as mortars, cellphones, regular batteries and blasting caps. Usman Basit Asto said the group of bomber Usman Basit, who is affiliated with terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, may have been responsible for the explosion. “’Yung ginagawa nila na style at based doon sa mga remnants na narecover natin na IED, ‘yun ang basehan natin. The same frequency, the same style, kasi ‘yun din ang expertise niya [Basit]," he told reporters in a separate phone interview. He added that the explosion had no direct target and was only meant “to (wreak) havoc" and to inform that Basit’s group is “still around." The explosion came days after the United States issued a new travel warning on the Philippines, cautioning its citizens against terrorist attacks in Mindanao and other parts of the country. — Andreo Calonzo/VVP/RSJ, GMA News
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