GENERAL SANTOS (Mindanao Examiner / 10 Jan) – At least 5 people were killed in a bomb explosion late Wednesday in the southern Philippine port city of General Santos, police and military said.
The powerful blast outside a lottery outlet decapitated one woman and wounded about 10 others, one witness Mel Coronel said. “The body was decapitated by the powerful blast. Three were killed instantly and two others did not reach the hospital alive,” he told reporters, adding, a boy was among the dead.
The bomb exploded at around 6.05 p.m. while people were lining up to buy lottery tickets in the busy downtown area near the central market.
Authorities did not say what type of bomb was used in the attack which coincided with the opening of the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu island in the central Philippines.
Australia earlier warned its citizens of a possible bomb attack in the Philippines. “We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in the Philippines because of the high threat of terrorist attack. We continue to receive credible reports that terrorists are planning attacks against a range of targets, including places frequented by foreigners.”
“Some reports suggest that terrorists could target sites in Metro Manila, Mindanao including the Sulu Archipelago, and Cebu Province. If you do decide to travel, you should exercise extreme caution when you are in the Philippines,” it said.
No group claimed responsibility for the latest attack, but the military and police authorities suspect the Abu Sayyaf or the Jemaah Islamiya and rouge members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front could be behind the blast.
Local police chief, Senior Superintendent Alfredo Toroctocon, said bomb experts were sifting through debris for evidence on what type of explosive was used in the attack. ”We still don’t know what type of bomb was used in the attack. We are still investigating the blast,” he said.
Two people were also injured in a bomb explosion Friday outside a restaurant in downtown Cotabato City in Maguindanao province. Police blamed the Jemaah Islamiya and an MILF commander Basit Usman for the blast. The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group currently negotiating peace with Manila, strongly denied any connection in the blasts.
Just last month, a bomb explosion ripped through the Kensan Mall in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province near Maguindanao wounding two people.
Philippine troops, backed by US military intelligence, were hunting two Jemaah Islamiyah bombers Umar Patek and Dulmatin, whom the Abu Sayyaf is coddling in Jolo island, about 950 kms south of Manila. Both Patek and Dulmatin are wanted for the October 2002 bombings in the resort Indonesian island of Bali in which 202 mostly foreign tourists were killed. (Mindanao Examiner)
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