Maguindanao del sur: Unidentified attackers harassed two military bases in Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte on Sunday night, the Army here said Monday.

According to Philippines News Agency, Lt. Col. Ronald Suscano, spokesperson for the Army's 6th Infantry Division, stated that nobody was hurt during the separate incidents. The first attack occurred at about 7 p.m. when an unidentified man left an improvised explosive device near a parked Truck Armored Vehicle (TAV) of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion at the Army's 34th Infantry Battalion detachment in Barangay Linantangan, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao del Sur. Although the device went off, there were no injuries or major damage to the Army vehicle.

Simultaneously, approximately 15 armed men attacked the detachment of the 12th Mechanized Company of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion in Talitay, Maguindanao del Norte. The soldiers on duty engaged the attackers in a 20-minute gunfight, successfully repulsing them without any injuries among the soldiers.

Following these incidents, Suscano announced that all Army personnel have been placed on heightened alert. This marks the fourth attack on government forces in the two provinces since July 18, when two men on a motorcycle threw a hand grenade at a military convoy, injuring two soldiers and three civilians in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur.

On that same evening, an Army base in Barangay Macaguiling, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte, was also targeted with a grenade attack. The grenade landed inside the 7th Infantry Battalion detachment, but again, no injuries were reported. Army and police officials suggest that these attacks on military installations might be retaliatory actions following a successful Army campaign against lawless elements, including the death of a high-ranking Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters leader.