Google map of Pikit, North Cotabato
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Two paramilitary troopers stationed in the conflict-ridden village of Pikit, North Cotabato survived a grenade attack on Friday night, police said.
“They were lucky the grenade did not explode,” Police Capt. Mautin Pangandigan, Pikit town police chief said, referring to the grenade attack against the militiamen whom he declined to identify for security reasons.
Pangandigan, in a phone interview, said an unidentified man on board a motorbike sped by the detachment of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) in Barangay Inug-og, Pikit at 6:45 p.m.
The man then tossed the grenade inside the detachment where the two paramilitary troopers were on duty.
“They (militiamen) thought they were stoned but upon verification, they discovered a live grenade right inside the detachment,” Pangandigan said.
Army bomb disposal experts safely defused the grenade barely half an hour later.
No one has claimed responsibility over the grenade-throwing incident but the militiamen suspected the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) could be behind it.
The BIFF, in several occurrences, has harassed CAFGU detachments in the area over the past few months. (PNA)
