Manila: An Al Qaida-linked local terror group was tagged as the source of an improvised explosive device (IED) that was found on Saturday in Isabela City, a ranking police official said.
"We have disarmed the [explosive device] that has the signature of the Abu Sayyaf," Senior Superintendent Alexis Lineses, chief of the Basilan Provincial Police Office, was quoted saying in a Mindanao Examiner report.
The IED was composed of ammonium nitrate, nails, and a cellular phone and was concealed in a trash bag, said Lineses,
Security forces were immediately mobilised to secure the province, a known lair of the Abu Sayyaf bandits.
The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for kidnap-for-ransom, beheadings, bombings, and other terror activities in southern Philippines.
