TEN PEOPLE, including troops and civilians, were killed when an explosion tore through a van at an army checkpoint near the city proper of Lamitan early Tuesday, as authorities warned the blast could be linked to a wider plot by Islamic militants.
The powerful explosion happened after soldiers and pro-government militia troops stopped the vehicle and tried to search it just after dawn on the outskirts of the mainly Christian city of Lamitan, which is on the predominantly Muslim island province of Basilan.
The Western Mindanao Command (WesMinCom), in a statement, said military troops belonging to the 9th Scout Ranger Company acted upon a report of the presence of a white public utility van suspected to be carrying an improvised explosive device (IED) near the Magwakit Detachment in Barangay Colonia.
One soldier, five militia troops and four civilians were killed.
The van driver, a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf militant group also died, Philippine military spokesman Colonel Edgard A. Arevalo told reporters in Manila.
He added that government forces had been on heightened alert after receiving reports that extremists planned to plant IEDs in areas around the island.
“We can just imagine the tragedy that this would bring to the people of Basilan had we not stopped them at the checkpoint,” Mr. Arevalo said.
Authorities earlier said at least five people died in the blast.
The hinterlands of the island province of Basilan is considered a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group that has pledged allegiance with the Islamic State.
“The suspect detonated the bomb sensing danger he will be captured,” Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Mujiv S. Hataman told AFP.
Lamitan City Mayor Rose U. Furigay has also issued an order to heighten security measures, especially the inspection of all vehicles entering the city.
Vice Mayor Roderick H. Furigay, meanwhile, speculated that the explosives could have been intended for a parade on Tuesday morning by 4,000 children in the center of the town to mark the country’s “nutrition month”.
“That could have been (the target),” he said on ABS-CBN television.
Lt. Gen. Arnel B. Dela Vega, WesMinCom commander, said he is “committed to exhaust every available resource under his disposal to identify the perpetrators in the soonest possible time.”
The Abu Sayyaf is among several armed groups fighting government forces in the southern Philippines in decades-long rebellion that has claimed more than 100,000 lives by government count.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte recently signed the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to create greater Muslim autonomy in the south.
Mr. Duterte put Mindanao, the southern islands in the Philippines including Basilan, under martial rule until the end of this year after Abu Sayyaf members based on the island joined pro-Islamic State group militants who seized the city of Marawi last year.
The five-month siege killed 1,200 people and destroyed much of the center of the city, which Mr. Duterte said the militants planned to turn into the capital of a southeast Asian caliphate.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. condemned the attack, describing it a “war crime” apparently intended against civilians.
”We condemn in the strongest possible terms the latest terrorist attack in Basilan perpetrated in violation of our laws,” Mr. Roque said during a briefing at in Malacañang yesterday.
“We note that even in times of war, the attack constitutes a war crime because it constitutes an indiscriminate attack which is prohibited by Article 4C-1 Attacks on Civilian, by R.A. 9851, IHL Act of 2009,” he added.
Mr. Duterte, soon after signing the BOL, said in a speech in Zamboanga City that he is open to talks and possibly giving pardon to Abu Sayyaf members who will surrender.
In light of the Basilan blast, Mr. Roque clarified that while the President is encouraging the militants to surrender, there will be no “absolute pardon” for criminal acts.
In a statement, Mr. Hataman also appealed to the media and the public to “stick to the facts and not forego our responsibility to the truth” as investigation is ongoing.
“(R)umors and unfounded claims may lead to fear-mongering and may further fuel instability at a time when we are working hard to win the peace and pursue justice,” he said. — AFP with reports from Albert F. Arcilla and Arjay L. Balinbin

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR