By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Seven civilians were injured Tuesday when a grenade was hurled at a vehicle carrying soldiers in the Philippines’ Muslim south, according to the military.
Capt. Rowena Muyuela, Western Mindanao Command spokesperson, cited a military report as saying the grenade exploded in front of a school in Sulu province’s capital Jolo at around 7.15 a.m. (0015GMT).
“[The] unidentified perpetrator hurled a fragmentary grenade that resulted in the wounding of 7 civilian bystanders," she told Anadolu Agency in a text message, condemning the attack for leaving innocent civilians as the primary victims.
Authorities are looking into whether the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf or breakaway Moro rebel group the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters were behind the incident.
It comes in the wake of another grenade attack Monday that targeted the home of an acting mayor in Datu Unsay town, southern Maguindanao province.
While acting mayor Monawara Ampatuan was not wounded in the incident, a carpenter sleeping near the blast site suffered shrapnel injuries to his left foot, according to the 6th Infantry Division’s spokesperson, Capt. Joann Petinglay.
An investigation has been launched to determine the perpetrators of the blasts.
The Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.
It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.
Meanwhile, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters is a splinter group of the Philippines’ one-time largest rebel organization, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
It was set up in 2008 due to disapproval for what its followers saw as the MILF’s acceptance of autonomy rather than full independence for Muslims in the country's south, and remains opposed to an ongoing MILF-government peace process.
