Yt Framework

A rubber plantation worker was injured in a landmine explosion believed to have been perpetrated by Abu Sayyaf bandits in a remote barangay of Basilan province, the police reported Thursday.

The Basilan Police Provincial Office (BPPO) reported that the incident took place around 9 a.m. Thursday in Barangay Calang-Canas, Maluso municipality, Basilan.

The police identified the victim as Prince Samson, a worker of the Canas Agrarian Reform Agricultural Development Cooperative (CARBADECO) rubber plantation.

The police said that Samson suffered injury on his right foot and was taken to a hospital in Isabela City, the capital of Basilan province. The police said that Samson works as a rubber tapper at the CARBADECO.

Investigation disclosed that Samson was harvesting rubber tree latex when he accidentally stepped on an improvised bomb fashioned out as a landmine, the police said.

The police said the planting of the landmine could be the handiwork of the Abu Sayyaf bandits as they eye extortion as the possible motive of the incident.

However, the military suspects that the target of the landmine are the troops stationed in a detachment near the explosion site.
The troops based at the detachment frequently pass the place where the landmine exploded.

A clearing operation was launched to ensure there are no more improvised bombs planted in the area, the police said.

by: PNA/PIA9-ZBST