ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 03, 2009) – At least two people were killed and eight others wounded in an explosion late Friday at a public square in Basilan province in the southern Philippines, officials said.
The blast occurred at around 8 p.m. in Isabela City.
“Initial reports said two people were killed and eight wounded. The explosion was near a power line which caused a blackout in the area,” First Lt. Steffani Cacho, a regional army spokeswoman, told the Mindanao Examiner.
She gave no other details about the blast or whether it was caused by a grenade or an improvised explosive device.
Basilan deputy governor Al Rashid Sakalahul said a woman and man were killed in the powerful explosion at the Plaza Rizal near the Provincial Capitol Building.
“We still don’t know who was behind the explosion, but we condemn this attack,” he said, adding, he ordered additional police patrol and checkpoints in Isabela City.
No group or individual claimed responsibility for the latest attack. Last December, more than a dozen people were also injured in an Abu Sayyaf grenade attack in the same area.
The Abu Sayyaf group has been linked to the spate of kidnappings and bomb attacks in the Philippines and is labeled a terrorist organization by both Manila and Washington, and is believed by the US to have links with the al-Qaeda terror network and Jemaah Islamiya.
The terrorist group is still holding eight kidnapped people, including a Swiss and Italian aid workers, a Sri Lankan peace advocate, a Chinese national and Filipinos in Basilan and Sulu province. (Mindanao Examiner)
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