Sayyaf Tagged As Behind Jolo Bombing

Scenes on Jolo island on Monday 17 Oct 2006, a day after suspected Abu Sayyaf militants detonated a powerful homemade bomb inside the provincial police headquarters and wounding three people. (Mindanao Examiner/Juan Magtanggol)

JOLO ISLAND (Juan Magtanggol / 17 Oct) – The Philippine military on Monday tagged the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group as behind the weekend bombing in Jolo island that wounded three people.

“The urban terrorist group of the Abu Sayyaf operating in Jolo could be behind the latest bombing,” said Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, a military spokesman.

He said a motorcycle taxi laden with explosives was detonated near a small hotel called Peace Keeper’s Inn and a military hospital at around 7.10 p.m.

"An explosion occurred at Peace Keeper's Inn and three people are wounded in the blast. Initial investigation disclosed that an IED (improvised explosive device) was placed inside a plastic bag and left at an unattended tricycle parked in the area," Bacarro said.

The hotel is located inside the provincial police headquarters in the village of Asturias in downtown Jolo. The deputy governor of Jolo island, Lady Ann Sahidula, said there were no reports of casualties. "There was a blast near the hotel's beauty parlor.

Authorities are still investigating the motive of the blast," she said in a separate interview.The Abu Sayyaf was also tagged as behind the bombing in March of a Church-run cooperative store that left nine people dead and 20 injured in downtown Jolo.

Philippine Army Maj. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commander of the Western Mindanao Command, on Monday inspected the bomb site and spoke to his commanders, ordering them to intensify the hunt for the Abu Sayyaf and the two JI bombers.

He also spoke to soldiers in the towns of Indanan and Patikul, urging them to get Dulmatin and Patek and Janjalani dead or alive.“Don’t give them any chance. Hit them hard and finish them off,” he said.

Troops on Sunday also disarmed two homemade bombs, assembled from mortar rockets, left at a market in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province, days after a spate of bombings blamed on the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiya terror network killed at least 14 people in the restive region.

The bomb, concealed in a backpack, was discovered by patrolling soldiers and militias at around 3 a.m. at the gate of the Agora market in downtown Pagadian, according to Bacarro.

Pagadian, a bustling city and center of trade and commerce in Western Mindanao, was bombed in the past and authorities had linked the Abu Sayyaf and radical members of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to the attacks.

But intelligence officials said they see the signature of the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya in the foiled bombing. "There is a signature and it points to the Abu Sayyaf and the JI. We can't say at this time whether the MILF was a part of this attempt to blow up the market," one army intelligence officer.

The bombings last week in the southern region were believed in retaliation to the arrest of the Indonesian wife and two children of Jemaah Islamiya bomber, Dulmatin, in Jolo island.

Istiada Oemar Sovie and her two boys ages 6 and 8 were arrested after Filipino soldiers pursuing Dulmatin raided a terrorist hideout in Patikul town.Dulmatin and his companion Umar Patek, who is also hiding in Jolo island are both wanted by Indonesia for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people and the 2003 JW Mariot hotel bombing in Jakarta.

A homemade bomb exploded Oct. 11 in Cotabato City, the 3rd in less than 24 hours in the restive Central Mindanao region, where two bombs killed at least 14 people at a market in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province and in the busy business center of Makilala town in North Cotabato province.

The governor of North Cotabato, Emmanuel Pinol, linked an MILF leader -- Basit Usman -- to the attack in Makilala town, but the rebel group strongly denied the accusation. "We have nothing to do with the bombings.

The MILF is currently negotiating peace with the Philippine government and we are sincere with the talks. There is a cease-fire agreement and the MILF is not part in any of these terrorist activities," a rebel spokesman, Eid Kabalu, said.

The military said the Abu Sayyaf headed by Khadaffy Janjalani is protecting Dulmatin and Patek in Jolo island. As many as 31 Jemaah Islamiya militants are believed hiding in the southern Philippines, particularly in Mindanao where the MILF is actively operating, it said.No group or individual claimed responsibility for all the bombings. (Mindanao Examiner)