MAGUINDANAO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 8, 2008) – A homemade bomb exploded early Monday at a market area and a second explosive was disarmed in the southern Philippines, where troops are pursuing are battling Moro rebels, officials said.
Officials said there were no reports of casualties from the blast that occurred at around 4 a.m. at the entrance of main market in the town of Isulan in Sultan Kudarat province. A second bomb was also discovered and disarmed by soldiers in Tacurong City also in the province, said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a regional army spokesman.
“It’s good that no one was hurt or killed in the blast. We still don’t know who was behind this, but clearly this is part of a terror campaign and we appeal to the public to stay vigilant,” Ando told the Mindanao Examiner.
Ando said the homemade planted at the market’s entrance probably exploded prematurely. “The market usually opens at about five in the morning and the bomb exploded an hour earlier,” he said.
He said the second explosive was planted outside the Julsom bakery just across the Tamondong hospital in nearby Tacurong City, east of Isulan town, but the bomb was discovered before it could explode.
The bomb was assembled from a mortar head and connected to a mobile phone that was used to trigger detonation, but it apparently malfunctioned and failed to explode.
No group claimed responsibility for the bombing or to the failed attack, but Ando said Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had used similar bombs in the past and were probably behind it.
The MILF, which is currently negotiation peace with Manila, is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for independence in the restive region on Mindanao, but the negotiations were stalled after two rebel commanders Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar led a series of deadly attacks in Mindanao.
Security forces were pursuing hundreds of rebels involved in the attacks and sporadic fighting had killed dozens of people in recent weeks and forced more than 200,000 civilians to flee their homes in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
Officials said there were no reports of casualties from the blast that occurred at around 4 a.m. at the entrance of main market in the town of Isulan in Sultan Kudarat province. A second bomb was also discovered and disarmed by soldiers in Tacurong City also in the province, said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a regional army spokesman.
“It’s good that no one was hurt or killed in the blast. We still don’t know who was behind this, but clearly this is part of a terror campaign and we appeal to the public to stay vigilant,” Ando told the Mindanao Examiner.
Ando said the homemade planted at the market’s entrance probably exploded prematurely. “The market usually opens at about five in the morning and the bomb exploded an hour earlier,” he said.
He said the second explosive was planted outside the Julsom bakery just across the Tamondong hospital in nearby Tacurong City, east of Isulan town, but the bomb was discovered before it could explode.
The bomb was assembled from a mortar head and connected to a mobile phone that was used to trigger detonation, but it apparently malfunctioned and failed to explode.
No group claimed responsibility for the bombing or to the failed attack, but Ando said Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had used similar bombs in the past and were probably behind it.
The MILF, which is currently negotiation peace with Manila, is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for independence in the restive region on Mindanao, but the negotiations were stalled after two rebel commanders Ameril Kato and Abdurahman Macapaar led a series of deadly attacks in Mindanao.
Security forces were pursuing hundreds of rebels involved in the attacks and sporadic fighting had killed dozens of people in recent weeks and forced more than 200,000 civilians to flee their homes in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
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