MANILA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine security forces have arrested a Swedish national and three Filipinos who allegedly carried out the Sept. 7 bombing of a public market in Sultan Kudarat province in the southern Philippines that wounded eight people.
Major Arvin Encinas, spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said on Tuesday that Swedish citizen Hassan Akgun and three Filipinos were arrested on Monday afternoon in Bagumbayan village in Isulan town.
"The (suspects) and seized items were brought to Sultan Kudarat provincial police office for documentation and filing of appropriate charges," Encinas said.
According to Encinas, the arresting team also seized an M16 assault rifle, a .45 caliber pistol, a shotgun, an improvised explosive device, assorted ammunition, 13 cell phones and bomb-making materials.
An ISIS flag was also seized from the suspects, Encinas added.
On Sept. 7, eight people were injured after an improvised bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in front of a public market in Isulan, the provincial capital of Sultan Kudarat province.
Last year, two successive bombings rocked Isulan that claimed the lives of five people and injured 45 others.
In April, a home-made bomb went off in front of a chicken barbecue stall also in the same stretch of the national highway.
Police and military authorities have blamed the IS-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) for the bombing attacks.
