COTABATO CITY — A 7-month pregnant woman was killed after an explosive, fired from afar, landed near her as they fled from fighting between Moro rebels and the government forces in Maguindanao.
It was the second explosion that hit civilian communities in three days in Maguindanao.
Rahima Damada was evacuating with her family and relatives from Sitio Sedsang, Barangay Pusaw in Shariff Saidona Mustapha when a rifle grenade or a mortar landed near her home at 10 p.m.
She sustained multiple shrapnel wounds and was declared dead on arrival before reaching the Maguindanao provincial hospital.
Brig. Gen. Samuel Rodriguez, police director in the Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), has ordered a probe.
Residents could not say where the mortar or rifle grenade originated but they admitted that the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the military have been trading mortars and bullets nearby.
Earlier, six persons, three children included, were hurt when an explosive landed in a house in Barangay Sambulawan in Salibo town, also in Maguindanao.
The victims were identified as Harris Abdulkarim, 36, Kusain Hamdan, 20, Nano Mama, 44, and three children aged 6, 8, and 15.
The Army also conducted a probe on the incident after civilians and netizens blame the military for the explosion. (Newsline.ph)
