North Cotabato ambush kills army soldier

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 10, 2009) – Gunmen ambushed and killed a government soldier on Thursday in the southern Philippines where security forces are battling communist and Muslim insurgents.

Police said the soldier, who was with a government militia, was visiting his farm in the village of Inas in North Cotabato town of Mlang when gunmen ambushed him. The militia was able to escape the ambush.

Police identified the soldier as Sergeant Tatu Sugang, a member of the Army’s 38th Infantry Battalion. His M16 rifle was also taken by the attackers.

The attack on the soldier came a day after security forces arrested five men implicated in the spate of bombings in Mindanao. The five were arrested in the town of Tantangan in South Cotabato province.

Police said the men are members of the Al-Khobar Gang, a criminal group tagged by authorities as behind the series of extortion activities and kidnappings-for-ransom in Mindanao. (With a report from Geo Solmerano)

Mindanao bombing leaves 9 wounded

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao / June 27, 2009) – At least 9 people were injured Saturday in a fresh attack blamed by the Philippine military to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in the restive region of Mindanao.

Colonel Jonathan Ponce, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said rebels detonated an improvised explosive planted at a commuter bus depot in Tacurong City.

“Nine people were injured in the blast and two of them are in critical condition,” he said.

Ponce quickly blamed the MILF and tagged a rebel leader Abdul Basit Usman as behind the attack, even as police is still investigating the blast. “The special operations group of the MILF under Basit Usman is behind this bombing,” he said.

The MILF strongly denied the accusations and urged police authorities to investigate the latest bombing.

“We have nothing to do with the bombing of the bus terminal. Police should investigate whether this (attack) was connected to extortion or business rivalry,” said Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the explosion, but previous attacks on bus terminals had been largely blamed by the police to extortion syndicate called the Al-Khobar gang.

In April, a powerful bomb explosion also ripped through a commuter bus in Koronadal City and wounding at least 6 people. Scores of people were also killed and wounded in bus depot bombings in Mindanao in recent years. (With a report from Geo Solmerano)

Kidnappers free Trader in South RP

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 14, 2009) – Kidnappers have freed a Filipino-Chinese trader after a week in captivity in the southern Philippines, police and military said Thursday.

Authorities said Christopher Yap, who was snatched May 7 in Maguindanao province, was released late Wednesday.

It was unknown if Yap’s family, paid ransom or not, but the kidnapping was blamed to either the Al-Khobar or Pentagon Gang, which had in the past seized traders and ransomed them off.

The military said four gunmen seized the 28-year old trader in the village of Limbo in the town of Sultan Kudarat. Maguindanao is one of five provinces under the restive Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

Trader kidnapped in southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 7, 2009) – Unidentified gunmen barged into a warehouse and abducted a Filipino-Chinese trader on Thursday in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao, the military said.

The military said four gunmen seized Christopher Yap, 28, in the village of Limbo in the town of Sultan Kudarat at around 10 a.m.

Gunmen dragged Yap into a waiting car parked outside his place. Yap’s family is into agricultural business, the military said.

No group claimed responsibility for the abduction, but previous kidnappings had been blamed by the police and military to the Al-Khobar gang and rogue members of the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic lslamic Liberation Front.

Maguindanao is one of five provinces under the restive Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao. (Ferdinandh Cabrera)

Mindanao bomber falls

Suspected Al-Khobar bomber during a police interrogation Thursday, April 02, 2009 in Kidapawan City in North Cotabato province in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Geo Solmerano)

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 02, 2009) – A Filipino bomber blamed for the spate of attacks in Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines was captured during a police raid in Kidapawan City in North Cotabato province.

Police identified the bomber as Manuel Guevarra, who is a member of the extortion gang called Al-Khobar. He was captured Wednesday in his hideout after informants tipped off the police about his presence.

Guevarra was said to be involved in the string of attacks in North Cotabato province, including in Kidapawan the past years that killed and wounded dozens of civilians.

The military previously blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for the past bombings in North Cotabato. (With a report from Geo Solmerano)

Kidapawan at Cotabato, naghigpit matapos ng dalawang pagsabog

Ang aftermath ng pagsabog sa Kidapawan City sa North Cotabato province sa Midnanao. Naghigpit na rin ng siguridad ang militar at pulisya sa naturang lugar upang mapigilan ang anumang terorismong balak ng mga masasamang-loob.(Mindanao Examiner Photo / Geo Solmerano)

KIDAPAWAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 23, 2009) – Naghigpit ngayon ng siguridad ang mga awtoridad sa Kidapawan City sa North Cotabato at Cotabato City sa Maguindanao matapos na sumabog ang dalawang bomba na ikinasugat ng 9 katao.

Iniwan ang bomba sa overpass sa downtown Kidapawan nuong Linggo ng gabi at mabilis naman na ibinintang ng Army’s 6th Infantry Division sa Moro Islamic Liberation Front ang pagsabog.

Ngunit sinabi ni Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco na posibleng Al-Khobar gang ang nasa likod ng atake matapos na mabigo ang nasabing grupo na makakuha ng extortion money sa Kidapawan.

“Definitely this is the handiwork of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels to force the government to resume negotiations with them,” ani Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, spokesman ng Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

Isang bomba rin ang sumabog dakiong alas 2.45 ng madaling araw sa bus terminal sa Cotabato City at dalawang bus na pagaari ng Husky ang tinamaan ng mga debris. Wala naman nasugatan sa pagsabog. Mahigpit na rin ang siguridad sa Cotabato City.

Walang umako sa dalawang pambobomba at mariing itinanggi ng MILF ang lahat ng akusasyon ng militar.

“The motive of the attack is extortion by the MILF-SOG,” wika pa ni Ponce.Ang SOG ay ang Special Operations Group, isang unit ng MILF na sabit sa ibat-ibang karahasan sa Mindanao, ayon pa sa militar.

“Why blame us for everything that is happening in Mindanao, we have nothing to do with it. We are not terrorists,” ani pa ni Eid Kabalu, isang opisyal ng MILF. (May ulat ni Geo Solmerano)

Four Filipino Terror Leaders Indicted In Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 12, 2008) – Philippine authorities filed criminal charges against four alleged leaders of the local terrorist group called Al-Khobar, blamed for the spate of bombings in the troubled region of Mindanao, officials announced Friday.

Police and military implicated the group to last week’s bombing of a commuter bus that killed at least 6 people and wounded over two dozens more in Digos City in Davao del Sur province.

Officials said police filed the charges against Salahudin Hasan alias Sudz; Abdulmalik Sali alias Dindo; Tahir Abubakar alias Jerome and Junaira Mimbidan and several followers.

Senior Superintendent Cesario Darantinao, the provincial police chief, the Al-Khobar was behind the attack on the Davao Metro Shuttle bus after a failed extortion. It was the second attack on the bus firm since early this year.

Authorities also put up nearly two million pesos in bounties for the capture of any of the four terror leaders. (Romy Bwaga)

No Signs Of Philippine Bombers

Police investigators work at the scene where a commuter bus was bombed September 1, 2008 in Digos City in the southern Philippines. (Photo submitted by Romy Bwaga)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 4, 2008) – Police continue to search for group behind the deadly bombing in the southern Philippines.

But there were no signs that authorities are nearing in putting an end to the atrocities committed by the Al-Khobar gang, blamed for the September 1 bombing of a commuter bus in Digos City in Davao del Sur province that killed and wounded dozens of people.

Senior Supt. Cesario Darantinao, the provincial police chief, said a woman was believed behind the attack on the bus owned by Davao Metro Shuttle. It was the second commuter bus bombed in the past three months.

“Like in the first bombing incident, we believe the extortion group Al-Khobar is behind this blast,” he said.

The bombing occurred at a bus depot and Metro Shuttle bus owner Mayor Rey Uy, of Tagum City, blamed extortionists as behind the attack.

The Al-Khobar gang is composed mostly of Filipino terrorists and some of them were former Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels trained by the Indonesian militant Jemaah Islamiya. (Romy Bwaga)

8 Killed In New Bombing In Southern Philippines

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 1, 2008) – A homemade bomb explosion Monday ripped through a commuter bus, killing at least 8 people in the southern Philippines, where security forces are battling Moro rebels, officials said.

Officials said the bombing targeted the bus owned by Metro Shuttle in Digos City in Davao del Sur province. At least seven people were seriously wounded in the attack.

The bombing occurred at a bus depot shortly before 3 p.m., according to Army Col. Roland Bautista, of the 10th Infantry Division. “We still don’t know the motive of the bombing,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Metro Shuttle bus owner Mayor Rey Uy, of Tagum City, has blamed extortionists as behind the bombing and urged authorities to put an end to the attacks. It was the second Metro Shuttle bus bombed in three months, he said.

He said four people were instantly killed in the blast, but other reports claimed four more others had perished in the bombing and the number of casualties may still increase because more people had been rushed to hospitals. Radio network dzRH also reported that 8 people were killed in the blast.

Army Maj. Armand Rico, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command, said the blast was so powerful that it decapitated a still unidentified civilian. “It was powerful that the blast decapitated a civilian,” he said.

Witnesses said they saw human body parts scattered inside the bus. The blast tore the roof and sides of the bus.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but a bombing in July of another Metro Shuttle bus in Digos City had been largely blamed to the Al-Khobar gang.

One passenger was killed and 35 others were wounded in the July bombing, which authorities claimed had been carried out by a woman, who left a bag containing the explosive inside the bus.

Three days before the bombing, Uy said unidentified men demanded P500,000 from his firm and P50,000 every month as protection money. Uy said the men threatened to bomb his buses if he will not pay up.

The Al-Khobar gang is composed mostly of Filipino terrorists and some of them were former Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels trained by the Indonesian militant Jemaah Islamiya.

The latest bombing coincided with government offensive against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels who launched a series of attacks last month in the provinces that killed dozens of civilians. It was not immediately known whether the rebels had anything to do with the bombing, officials said. (With a report from Romy Bwaga)

North Cotabato Bombing Foiled

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 14, 2008) – Philippine authorities foiled a bomb attack Thursday in North Cotabato city of Kidapawan, a day after troops gained control of 15 villages occupied by Muslim rebels, officials said.

Officials said the bomb, assembled from mortar and TNT and nails rigged to a cell phone, was discovered at dawn by civilians at a bus depot. No group claimed responsibility for the foiled attack, but officials said soldiers and policemen were alerted by the discovery of the explosive.

Army and police explosives experts defused the bomb, which was placed inside a bag and abandoned at the bus depot.

“Civilians are now vigilant and cooperating fully with military and police authorities and we urge the public to stay vigilant. We will not allow terrorism to disturb our peace in Mindanao,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Troops on Wednesday took control of 15 villages in North Cotabato province after a weeklong battle that left more than two dozen rebels and soldiers dead and wounded and over 160,000 people fleeing their homes.

Authorities blamed previous bombings in North Cotabato to the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya and their local counterpart, the Abu Sayyaf and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, including the al-Khobar gang.

Last year, two bombs exploded in Kidapawan City and killed three people and left dozens wounded. (Mindanao Examiner)

Jemaah Islamiya Affiliate Blamed For Philippine Bus Bombing

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 25, 2008) – Police and military on Friday tightened security in the southern Philippines following a bombing of a commuter bus that killed one passenger and wounded at least 35 others in Digos City in Davao del Sur province.

Police said one of the injured in the blast died on Friday and that at least 35 people were injured in the attack believed carried out by the al-Khobar gang, blamed for the spate of bombings and extortion activities in Mindanao.

Police is also investigating reports that a woman who posed as passenger was behind Thursday attack on the bus owned by the family of Mayor Rey Uy, of Tagum City.

Three days before the bombing, Uy said unidentified men demanded P500,000 from his bus firm and P50,000 every month as protection money. Uy said the men also threatened to bomb his buses if he will not pay up.

“We have reports that the al-Khobar was behind the attack and that a woman carried out the bombing,” Lt. Col. Kurt Decapia, a spokesman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Decapia alsop corrected military reports that two people were killed in the bombing. Decapia said the military is investigating the blast and the type of explosive used in the attack. He said the al-Khobar gang is composed mostly of Filipino terrorists and some of them were former Muslim rebels trained by the Indonesian militant grouped called Jemaah Islamiya.

“Most of the members of this group were trained by JI terrorists in the manufacture of homemade bombs and we have stepped up efforts to locate them and stop their terrorist activities,” he said.

On Tuesdays, government troops also recovered a motorcycle rigged with explosives in nearby Maguindanao province. The military said the motorbike was abandoned by its driver due to flat tires before it could a government checkpoint in Ampatuan town.

The military said it had received intelligence reports that terrorists were planning to attack civilian targets using motorcycles rigged with explosives. Military explosives' experts found an improvised explosive device composed of TNT on the motorbike's engine and connected to a detonator and a cellular phone that served as triggering device. (Mindanao Examiner)

2 Dead, 27 Injured In Bus Bombing In Southern Philippines

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 24, 2008) – At least two people were killed and more than two dozen others wounded in Thursday bombing of a commuter bus in the southern Philippines, police and military said.

The attack occurred at noontime at a bus depot in Digos City in Davao del Sur province, said Lieutenant Colonel Kurt Decapia, a spokesman for the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

“At least two people are confirmed dead and ten others or possibly more were killed in the bus bombing. We have deployed soldiers to help police forces secure the area,” Decapia told the Mindanao Examiner.

But police said at least 27 passengers were injured in the blast caused by a homemade bomb planted in the bus.

“We have reports that 27 passengers were injured in the blast caused by a homemade bomb explosion. A cell phone was used to trigger detonation of the bomb,” said Senior Superintendent Cesario Darantinao, the provincial police chief.

Darantinao said the bus, owned by the Davao Metro Shuttle, came from the neighboring town of Bansalan. He said the explosion occurred at around 11.30 a.m.

The military said no groups claimed responsibility for the bombing. “We still don’t know who was behind this or the motive of the attack,” Decapia said.

But bus bombings in the troubled region were previously blamed by authorities to the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya and its local affiliate the Abu Sayyaf and the al-Khobar gang and rouge members of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is negotiating peace with Manila.

On Tuesdays, government soldiers recovered a motorcycle rigged with explosives in Maguindanao province in the Muslim autonomous region also in southern Philippines where President Gloria Arroyo toured.

The motorbike was abandoned by its driver due to a flat tire before it could a military checkpoint in Ampatuan town. The military said it had received intelligence reports this week that terrorists could be planning to attack civilian targets using motorcycles rigged with explosives.

It said the motorcycle was en route to Davao City, which was previously bombed by JI and MILF rebels. Military explosives' experts found an improvised explosive device composed of TNT on the motorbike’s engine and connected to a detonator and a cellular phone that served as triggering device. (Mindanao Examiner)

Extort Gang Eyed In Mindanao Blast

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 19, 2008) – The Philippine military on Tuesday tagged a criminal syndicate as behind a new bomb attack on a commuter bus in the southern city of Cotabato.

The bombing injured three people late Monday and security officials tagged the Al-Khobar gang, an affiliate of the notorious Abu Sayyaf, also blamed for past attacks in the troubled region of Mindanao.

“Initial reports suggested the bombing was perpetrated by the Al-Khobar which has been linked to previous attacks on commuter buses in Mindanao,” Major Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said three people were injured the bombing that damaged a bus owned by the Weena Transit. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Cotabato City, rocked by past bombings, kidnappings and killings has been previously tagged by Western countries as a dangerous place for foreigners because of the presence of terrorists.

Earlier this month, a bomb attack on a bus depot also wounded at least eight people in the town of Midsayap in North Cotabato. Although no groups claimed responsibility for the blast, authorities have linked the Al-Khobar and the Abu Sayyaf in the attack.

Last month, a homemade bomb exploded in Midsayap, damaging a bus also owned by Weena Transit. The explosive, assembled from a mortar round, was left near at the parked bus. (With reports from Mark Navales)

Extort Group Owns Up Bombing In Mindanao

A security guard of the Philbest Canning Corporation in General Santos City in southern Philippines stands Saturday, February 2, 2008 near the site where a bomb had exploded last week killing four people. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Gandhi C. Kinjiyo)

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 02, 2008) – A shadowy group calling itself the Al-Khobar gang has allegedly owned to a recent bombing in the southern Philippines, reports said.

Reports said the gang, composed mostly of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels and criminals, claimed the January 30 bombing outside the Philbest Canning Corporation in the village of Tambler that killed four people and wounded at least 28 others.

An explosive was left on a parked motorcycle outside the factory where it detonated as employees were coming out of the Philbest compound. Police initially blamed labor disputes at the factory and failed extortion as the motive of the attack.

Police and military also linked the group to previous bombings in strife-torn region the past years. Al-Khobar was behind many extortion activities in Mindanao. (Gandhi C. Kinjiyo)

2 Bombing Suspects Arrested In Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 23, 2007) – Police arrested two men implicated in a bombing in the southern Filipino province of North Cotabato.

Police said the two men, aged 19 and 20, were tagged by witnesses in Thursday bombing of the KMCC Mall in Kidapawan City.

Troops on Friday also tightened security in the province because of the attack blamed on the shadowy group called Al-Khobar. The group was previously linked to extortion activities and bombings in the region, said Army Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman of the 6th Infantry Division.

“The bombing was believed carried out by the Al-Khobar. Intelligence reports suggest the attack was connected to a failed extortion,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

At least seven people were wounded in the attack after a bomb, left at the mall’s baggage counter, exploded.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack, but police and military authorities blamed past bombings in the province to the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya and their local affiliate, the Abu Sayyaf.

Ando said the military has been working closely with the local police force to hunt down members of the Al-Khobar group. “We are also in constant dialogue with the business sector and we assure our traders that we are doing our best to neutralize lawless elements,” he said.

Two powerful bombs also exploded in October at the busy business district of Kidapawan City that killed three people and wounded 32 others.

Soldiers in October also disarmed a homemade bomb planted at a market in North Cotabato’s Pikit town in October, but two other explosions inside two commuter buses in Marbel town injured several people.

The region is also where Filipino troops are pursuing Zulkifli bin Hir and two other Jemaah Islamiya bomb-makers, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both tagged by Jakarta as behind the 2002 Bali bombings.

Manila said about three dozen other Jemaah Islamiya accomplices are believed hiding in Mindanao. The United States and Australia are helping the Philippines on its so-called war on terror by providing aid and training to local troops. (Mindanao Examiner)