3 Injured In New Bus Bombing In Southern Philippines

A truckload of soldiers return to a military camp in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines Wednesday July 18, 2007. A powerful bomb exploded on Wednesday inside a commuter bus in the southern Tacurong City, wounding 3 people, says regional army chief Maj. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 18 Jul) – An improvised explosive device went off inside a commuter bus in the southern Philippines, wounding three people, officials said.

Officials said the blast occurred minutes after the bus, owned by YBL, arrived in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province at around 12.30 p.m.

“Three people were injured in the blast,” Army Maj. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.
No group claimed responsibility for the blast, he said.

Ferrer said authorities were still investigating what type of explosive was used in the attack.

Last month, a powerful bomb exploded inside a passenger bus and killed 9 people and wounded seven more in Bansalan town in Davao del Sur province. Another bomb also went off in a bus in Cotabato City.

Police also foiled a car bombing in June in South Cotabato province in the volatile region of Mindanao, where U.S. forces are currently as part of the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, which is helping the Filipino military defeat terrorism.

The U.S. military provides training, advice, and security assistance, and shares intelligence information with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The United States, Canada and Britain have issued travel warnings and strongly advised their citizens not to travel to the southern part of the Philippines because of threats of terrorism and kidnappings of foreigners.

An Italian Catholic priest Giancarlo Bossi was kidnapped June 10 in Zamboanga Sibugay province by rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels. (Mark Navales and Juan Magtanggol)