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COTABATO, Philippines — A do-it-yourself bomb went off in a bus and killed a passenger and wounded 10 others in a southern Philippine metropolis on Sunday in an assault authorities suspect could also be a part of an extortion try, officers stated.
The bus with an unspecified variety of passengers was approaching a transport terminal in Tacurong metropolis in Sultan Kudarat province when the bomb went off in the back of the car shortly earlier than midday, police stated.
Investigators have been making an attempt to find out if the attackers have been from the identical armed group that had staged comparable bombings in previous years to extort cash from the Yellow Bus Line, which operates in key southern cities, army and police officers stated.
Regional military commander Maj. Gen. Roy Galido stated the bus firm “has been continuously receiving extortion messages.” The army and police have been working with the bus homeowners to seize the extortionists, who might have been angered by the bus firm’s refusal to repay, Galido stated.
Police have blamed the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a small insurgent pressure that has aligned itself with the Islamic State group, for comparable bus bombings previously.
In a separate assault, about 15 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters opened hearth on troopers guarding restore works on a flood-damaged bridge in Datu Hoffer city in southern Maguindanao province Friday evening, Galido stated. He condemned the assault, which killed a soldier and wounded two others.
Troops have been looking down the attackers, he stated.
The group broke off years in the past from the Moro Islamic Liberation Entrance when the latter entered into peace talks with the federal government and embraced a proposal of Muslim autonomy in a five-province area within the south of the largely Roman Catholic nation.
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