Man carrying bombing explosives arrested in southern Philippines

Philippine security forces have arrested a former commander of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) wanted for a kidnapping-for-ransom case in the southern Mindanao region, said the military on Monday.

A military spokesman, Bartolome Bacarro, said Blah Platon, alias Datu Demah Atol Guilal, was carrying materials for making an improvised bomb when he was arrested early Monday morning at a security check point in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat, southern Philippines.

Platon was arrested by virtue of a warrant for kidnapping for ransom with serious illegal detention. But his capture may also have averted new bomb attacks on cities in Mindanao, officials said.

Tacurong was one of five southern cities hit last month by blasts that killed seven people and wounded more than 30.

Military and police blamed the Abu Sayyaf militants and their allies, Jemaah Islamyah, for launching these attacks.

In a separate incident, unidentified armed men Monday fired a mortar near the government building of the Autonomous Region on Muslim Mindanao in Cotabato City, southern Philippines.

The attack, which injured a child, was believed to be aimed at the local governor of Cotabato who was an opponent of the MILF, said police.

Source: Xinhua