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Security up in NoCot town after bomb found near school

By Edwin Fernandez

March 2, 2019, 12:22 pm

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Security measures were tightened in Pikit, North Cotabato, following the discovery of a bomb near a public school there on Friday.

Police Lt. Col. Aldrin Gonzales, speaking for Police Regional Office 12 (Soccsksargen), said classes were delayed at the Ginatilan Elementary School in Barangay Ginatilan, Pikit after an anti-personnel mine was found by the roadside leading to the school.

“Teachers and pupils were prevented from proceeding to the school while Army and police bomb experts were deactivating the bomb,” he said.

The Pikit police office also received a call from village officials about a suspicious bag left unattended beside the highway at past 6 a.m. on the same day, prompting authorities to shut down the section of the highway in the village.

The bag contained two 40-mm. rifle grenades, a local area network hub cable, a 12-volt battery, and a plastic gallon that contained gasoline.

Gonzales said police and Army investigators are jointly looking into the case. He said the anti-personnel mine could have been intended for other areas but the presence of the police and military manning checkpoints in Pikit forced the courier to abandon it. (PNA)

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