3 explosions hit Zamboanga City

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / January 29, 2010) – Philippine authorities on Friday stepped up security following three small explosions in the southern port city of Zamboanga previously bombed by al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants.

Army Colonel Santiago Baluyot, commander of a military anti-terror task force, said the explosions at dawn occurred in three areas in downtown Zamboanga, but there were no reports of casualties.

“The explosions occurred at dawn and there are no reports of casualties. The explosions are probably meant to sow fear,” Baluyot told the regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the first blast was reported along Sevilla Street at around 3:30 a.m. and followed by another explosion at 4:20 a.m. in front of the Universidad de Zamboanga and one more at Plaza Pershing at 5:10 a.m.

Baluyot said bomb experts have recovered no shrapnel from the three areas. He said police and military are still investigating the explosions. No group or individual claimed responsibility for the blasts, but previous bombings had been largely blamed by authorities to the Abu Sayyaf group. (Mindanao Examiner)