Blast hits Zamboanga City anew

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 20, 2010) – Police mounted a massive search Thursday for two motorcycle men blamed for an explosion in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga.

Local police chief Edwin de Ocampo said security forces were searching for the men who were behind the explosion late Wednesday in the village of Putik, just several kilometers east of downtown Zamboanga.

No one was hurt in the blast and police is still investigating the components of the explosive. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the explosion, but police said the blast occurred on a pile of garbage.

The explosion, which was heard loudly in the neighboring village of Tetuan, sent residents into panic thinking Abu Sayyaf militants had attacked again.

The Abu Sayyaf was blamed for deadly bombings in the past in Zamboanga City. It was not immediately known whether it had a hand in the latest bombing.

An improvised bomb also exploded in Zamboanga City early this month, although no was nobody was killed or injured in the attack.

The May 8 blast occurred shortly before 5.30 a.m. in downtown area near the City Hall where the explosive was planted.

Last year, three small explosions occurred in three areas in downtown Zamboanga City, but there were no reports of casualties. In 2008, a series of Abu Sayyaf bombings killed and wounded more than a dozen people in Zamboanga City. (Mindanao Examiner)

Rebels detonate bombs in Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 6, 2009) – Suspected Moro rebels set off three improvised explosives Saturday in the restive southern Filipino province of Maguindanao, scene of fierce clashes in recent months, a military report said.

The report said the roadside bombings occurred in the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, where Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels and government forces previously clashed.

The military blamed the attacks on the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for independence in Mindanao.

The MILF has denied any involvement in the latest attacks. It said soldiers could have detonated the bombs and put the blame on rebels. “The MILF has nothing to do with the explosions; it could be the handiwork of the soldiers to discredit us,” Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He also accused troops, from the 6th Infantry Division, as behind the burning Saturday of many houses owned by Muslims in the neighboring town of Guidulungan.

“The soldiers torched the houses after they failed to find any rebels in the area. Muslims are fleeing their homes because they are scared of the soldiers who are notorious for their human rights records,” Kabalu said.

There was no immediate statement from the 6th Infantry Division and its spokesmen did not answer calls from journalists.

Maguindanao is one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region. The MILF said more than 600,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Mindanao.

President Gloria Arroyo opened peace talks in 2001 with the MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for independence in Mindanao, but negotiations collapsed in August last year.

The MILF accused Manila of reneging on a Muslim homeland which was initially signed in Malaysia in July. The Supreme Court said the deal was unconstitutional. (Mindanao Examiner)

1 killed, 4 wounded in separate explosions in Southern RP

Policemen inspect vehicles before midnight Monday, December 30, 2008 in Kidapawan City in the southern Philippines after one police officer was killed and four people were wounded in two explosions in Sultan Kudarat province and General Santos City.

(Mindanao Examiner Photo / Geonarri Solmerano)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 31, 2008) – One person was killed and four others wounded in separate explosions in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Three people, including a policeman, were also injured in an explosion late Tuesday in General Santos City. Unidentified men on motorcycle tossed the bomb at a police post in the village of Lagao.

Officials said a homemade bomb also exploded inside a motorcycle taxi at a police checkpoint, killing its driver and wounding an officer Tuesday night in the village of Saliao in Sultan Kudarat’s Esperanza town.

“The driver of the tricycle was killed in the blast. We still do not know what triggered the explosion, but it’s one terrorist down,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the improvised explosive, assembled from 81 millimeter mortar bomb, was inside a sack full of charcoal when it went off at the police checkpoint.
Ando said the bomb was probably intended to another target.

“The bomb was in transit and probably exploded due to faulty assembly. We appeal to the public to stay vigilant and report to authorities any suspicious persons in your community,” he said.

Ando said the bomb was similar to explosives used by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in previous attacks.

The MILF denied any links to the explosion. “The driver who was killed in the blast was a Christian and the MILF has nothing to do with it,” Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, said in a separate interview.

The MILF is the country’s largest Muslim rebel group fighting for self-determination in the southern Philippines. Peace talks between the rebels and the government failed in August after the aborted signing of the Muslim homeland deal. The failed signing sparked a series of deadly rebel attacks in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)

2 killed in twin bombings in southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 18, 2008) – At least two people were killed in twin bombings Thursday in Iligan City in the southern Philippines, the military said.

The military said at least six people were also wounded in the bomb attacks, but the local Red Cross said as many as 38 people were either injured or hurt in the blasts, including about two dozen who were rushed to hospitals.

The first bomb exploded at around 1.25 p.m. inside the Unicity Commercial Center in Iligan City and this was followed by another blast 20 minutes later at the Jerry Supermart in downtown Iligan City, said Army Lt. Steffani Cacho, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command.

She said two people were killed and four others wounded in the bombing at the Jerry’s Supermart and two more injured in the attack at the Unicity Commercial Center.

“The improvised explosives were left at the baggage counters of both Unicity and Jerry’s Supermart,” Cacho told reporters.

Col. Benito de Leon, commander of the 104th Infantry Brigade, has sent bomb-sniffing dogs and explosives experts to help police in the investigations. “We have sent K9 units and bomb experts in the area to help in the investigations,” he said.

No group or individuals claimed responsibility for the bombings, she said, but previous attacks in the city had been blamed to Moro rebels and local militants trained by Jemaah Islamiya.

Last month, at least three people were also wounded in the bombings of two budget hotels - the Traveler's Inn and the Caprice Lodge - in Iligan City. (Mindanao Examiner)

9 people wounded in Philippines bombings

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 5, 2008) – Nine people were injured in separate bomb explosions in the restive region of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, officials said on Friday.

The attacks occurred after security forces arrested a Bangladeshi terror suspect in Shariff Kabunsuan, one of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

The first explosion wounded six civilians late Thursday in downtown Isulan in Sultan Kudarat province. It was followed by another attack Friday morning wounding an army soldier and two other civilians near Bagong village in Shariff Aguak, the hometown of the region’s Muslim governor Zaldy Ampatuan.

“We suspect the MILF as behind all these bombings, who else would do that, but the MILF rebels,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Ando was referring to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, which is fighting for self-determination in the troubled South.

The army also linked the MILF to last week’s bomb attack on a church of the Jehova’s Witness in Kabacan town in North Cotabato province, a rebel stronghold in Mindanao.

Five other bombs were planted on the same church and the Iglesia Ni Cristo in recent days had been disarmed by soldiers.

The MILF strongly denied all accusations. “The MILF has nothing to do with all these bombings. Authorities should investigate these attacks to determine who is behind it. We have repeatedly and publicly denounced terrorism, we are for peace,” Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, said in a separate interview.

Authorities on Tuesday arrested Muhammad Alpariz, an alleged Bangladeshi al-Qaeda bomb expert, after soldiers and police commandos raided his hideout in the village of Tapayan in Sultan Mastura town in the Muslim autonomous province of Shariff Kabunsuan.

Soldiers and policemen recovered from Alpariz's hideout several improvised explosives assembled from mortar bombs and blasting caps, including cellular phones and an alarm clock.

It was not immediately known if Alpariz was working alone or whether he had links with the MILF. But his Filipino wife, Sulaika Rafiquellah, said her husband was not Muhammad Alpariz, but Mohammad Rafiquellah.

She said her 48-year old husband is not a terrorist and not a member of either the al-Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiya. In a television interview, Rafiquellah said her husband had been framed up by authorities. "He is a farmer, a mechanic and has a cell phone repair shop in Sultan Mastura town," she said.

The foreigner also denied the charges against him. (Mindanao Examiner)

Two Bombings Hit Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 17, 2008) – At least 3 people were wounded in two separate bombings Sunday in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Two bombs went off 20 minutes apart in two budget hotels in Iligan City and officials have said that at least three people were hurt in the attacks.

“Three persons are wounded in the bombings and we have deployed soldiers to help policemen secure the area,” Army Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido, commander of a military task force, told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from Lanao province.

He said the first bomb exploded at around 5.30 p.m. at the Traveler’s Inn where three people were wounded and another exploded later at the Caprice Lodge. No group claimed responsibility for the twin bombings in Iligan, one of several areas being claimed by Muslim rebels as part of the ancestral domain.

Government troops also disarmed a homemade bomb planted near a school in North Cotabato, where fresh fighting between security and Muslim rebel forces erupted on Friday.

Authorities are also in high alert in North Cotabato after civilians on Friday discovered a homemade bomb in Mlang town, a day after policemen arrested a would-be-attacker and a self-confessed member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front at the town's market after an explosive he was carrying went off prematurely.

On Thursday, soldiers also defused a powerful bomb at a bus depot in North Cotabato's Kidapawan City. The province had been attacked in the past by Muslim rebels and members of the Indonesian terror group called Jemaah Islamiya and the local militant groups Abu Sayyaf and the Al-Khobar.

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

Some 800 rebels occupied the villages after clashing with government militias over a land dispute and the fighting eventually spread to other areas. (Mindanao Examiner)

Troops Tighten Security In South RP

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 16, 2008) – Philippine troops have tightened security in Mindanao following intelligence reports that Muslim rebels were planning to bomb civilian targets, officials said Saturday.

Officials said rebels were targeting the provincial capitol of North Cotabato in Kidapawan City where a powerful bomb at a bus depot was disarmed Thursday.

“We have reports that rebels were planning to bomb the provincial capitol (building) and we have tightened security in North Cotabato to prevent terrorism,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Policemen on Thursday also arrested a would-be-attacker who admitted being a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the North Cotabato town of Mlang after a homemade bomb he was carrying in a bag exploded prematurely at a market area.

On Friday, two homemade bombs were recovered and defused by troops in Mlang. Fighting between soldiers and MILF rebels also broke out Friday in the towns of Pigkawayan and Midsayap, although there were no reports of casualties.

Sporadic clashes in North Cotabato since last month had killed close to 100 people and displaced some 160,000 villagers. The MILF said rebel forces killed at least 60 government militias and dozens of soldiers in fierce clashes across five towns in the province and that 13 of its fighters also died.

The MILF also denied military reports that it was planning to bomb civilian targets in North Cotabato or anywhere in Mindanao. “We are not terrorists, but a revolutionary organization fighting for a just cause and fighting for self-determination,” Eid Kabalu, a senior rebel leader, said by phone from his base in Mindanao.

The MILF, the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, is currently negotiating peace with Manila, but despite a truce sporadic fighting still continue in some parts of the southern Philippines with both sides accusing each of breaking the cease-fire deal.

Security forces earlier this week have driven away some 800 rebels who occupied 15 villages in North Cotabato, one of several provinces the MILF is claiming as part of the Muslim ancestral domain. (Mindanao Examiner)

2 Dead, 18 Wounded In Zamboanga City Bombing

Filipino police bomb experts sift through debris Thursday, May 29, 2008 after a bombing outside the Philippine Air Force base that killed two people and wounded at least 18 others. No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack, but previous bombings in Zamboanga City had been blamed to the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Arthur Abasolo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 29, 2008) - Two people were killed and more than a dozen others wounded in a bomb attack Thursday outside a Philippine Air Force base in the southern port city of Zamboanga, police said.

The blast damaged a building in front of the military base, where US soldiers, training local troops in anti-terrorism warfare, maintain a small camp.

US Special Forces have been in Zamboanga City since 2002, but it was not immediately known whether the attack was related to the presence of the soldiers. The blast coincided with sporadic fighting between Muslim rebels and soldiers since last week in nearby Basilan island.

The damaged building also houses the Philippine military mutual fund, Air Material Wing Savings and Loans Association, and office of the US Agency for International Development, including the headquarter of Zamboanga City Rep. Maria Isabelle Climaco.

“We still do not know what type of IED was used in the attack,” said Senior Superintendent Lurimer Detran, the local police chief.

Initial reports said 10 people were wounded in the blast, but eight more had been rushed to hospitals. The explosion damaged the façade of the two-storey building. Police would not say whether the bomb was planted outside the building or left on parked vehicles nearby.

But other reports said the bomb, hidden in a bag, was apparently left outside the building where a crowd of passengers, mostly military dependents, were waiting for a C130 transport plane that would bring them to Manila.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack but the US and other western embassies have warned their citizens not to travel to Zamboanga City because of threats of terrorism and kidnappings.

On Monday, three gunmen kidnapped a trader in Zamboanga City after barging in his office in the village of Tetuan. Zamboanga City has been attacked in the past by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which bombed civilian targets and in several occasions kidnapped foreigners among them a German canning executive, a Belgian agrarian expert, a Taiwanese matriarch and Chinese traders. (Mindanao Examiner)

Homemade Bomb Explodes In Southern Philippines

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Philippine Rebels Deny Links To Bombing

A Philippine Army soldier guards the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Zamboanga City after a bomb exploded below one of its stairs Sunday, April 13, 2008. A second bomb was detonated at a commercial building, about 2 kilometers away from the church. There were no reports of casualties. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 14, 2008) – Muslim rebels negotiating peace with the Philippine government on Monday assailed police authorities for linking them to twin bombings in Zamboanga City.

Unidentified bombers struck early Sunday in the southern port city, simultaneously detonating bombs at a Catholic church and a commercial building housing the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

No one was killed or injured in the attacks, but police quickly blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the smaller and most violent militant group, Abu Sayyaf.

The first bombing occurred at around 4 a.m. at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in downtown Zamboanga. The second bomb was detonated five minutes later outside the Vienna Kaffee Haus near the Foreign Affairs regional office, about two kilometers away.

The bombings came barely a week after Australia and the United States warned their citizens against traveling to Zamboanga City and other parts of southern region because of threats of terrorism and kidnappings.

“The MILF has nothing to do with the bombings. Why blame the MILF for the failure of the police to prevent such attacks? If there is anyone to blame for the bombings, it is the authorities. They failed top prevent terrorism,” an MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told the Mindanao Examiner.

Kabalu said the MILF is currently negotiating peace with Manila and signed a cease-fire agreement in 2001. “We are not a terrorist group. The MILF is negotiating peace with the Philippine government and there exists a truce accord and there is no reason for us to fight. We want peace to reign,” he said.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the bombings and police said the motive of the attack is still unknown.

Police said it is tracking down three men, believed responsible for the bombings, after a church caretaker told investigators he saw the trio carrying bags inside the Cathedral compound minutes before the blast. Mayor Celso Lobregat condemned the bombings and appealed for sobriety and vigilance.

Lobregat said the authorities are on top of the situation. "We are doing everything to identify the perpetrators of this dastardly act," he said.Two cars parked at the church compound were damaged when the bomb, believed to be assembled from an 81mm mortar, exploded under a concrete stairs leading to the main altar.

Kabalu said the MILF is working closely with the government through the so-called ad-hoc joint action group to track down criminals and terrorists.

The MILF forged an agreement in 2004 that paved the way for rebel forces to help government hunt down terrorists and criminal elements in areas where the rebel group is actively operating.

The rebel group in the past provided the government of a list of suspected Filipino and Indonesian terrorists operating in Mindanao. It previously helped Philippine authorities track down and arrest suspected Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants in the troubled region.

Last year, MILF rebels rescued a German national Thomas Wallraf and three other Filipinos kidnapped by bandits while traveling in the southern province of North Cotabato.

In 2006, the MILF rescued a kidnapped nine-year old girl, Donna May Ramos, in Basilan island after rebels stormed the hideout of her captors and arrested two men, who were later executed. Rebels also freed a kidnapped social worker, Henry de Guzman, in the southern province of Lanao del Norte.

A bombing in Zamboanga City last year was also blamed to the Abu Sayyaf, but the police said three suspects they arrested pointed to a military intelligence agent as the mastermind. The accusation caused a silent rift between the police and military.(Mindanao Examiner)

2 Bombings Rocked Zamboanga City In Southern Philippines

Philippine National Police Scene of Crime Officers collect fragments of a bomb that exploded Sunday, April 13, 2008, at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Zamboanga City. A second bomb also exploded outside the Vienna Kaffee Haus near the regional office of the Foreign Ministry, about 2 kilometers away. No groups or individual claimed responsibility for the twin attacks and police says there are no casualties. (Mindanao Examiner Photos)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 13, 2008) – Unidentified bombers struck early Sunday, targeting a Roman Catholic Cathedral and a coffee shop in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines, police said.

Police said there were no reports of casualties, but the blasts worried city officials that it would scare investors and tourists in Zamboanga. More than 6,000 visitors are in Zamboanga City for the national convention of pharmacists and the private schools athletes’ competitions.

The first bombing occurred at around 4 a.m. at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in downtown Zamboanga. The second bomb was detonated five minutes later outside the Vienna Kaffee Haus near the Foreign Affairs regional office, about two kilometers away.

The bombings came barely a week after Australia and the United States warned their citizens against traveling to Zamboanga City and other parts of southern region because of threats of terrorism and kidnappings.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the bombings. The motive of the attack is still unknown.

Mayor Celso Lobregat condemned the bombings and appealed for sobriety and vigilance. “We should remain calm. Let us not panic or show fear because it will just give added victory to the perpetrators,” he said at a news conference.

Lobregat said the authorities are on top of the situation. “We are doing everything to identify the perpetrators of this dastardly act,” he said.

Archbishop Romulo Valles branded the attack on the Church as “an act of darkness,” and called on the citizens to pray and stay united. “We are greatly saddened deeply by these incidents. It is clearly an act of darkness. We should stand united,” he said.

Two cars parked at the church compound were damaged when the bomb, believed to be assembled from an 81mm mortar, exploded under a concrete stairs leading.
Police bomb experts and scene of crime officers were spotted sifting on debris, picking up fragments of the bomb and pieces of evidence.

The cathedral’s two steel gates and walls also bore holes from fragments of the powerful explosion.

“This (explosion) is something huge, powerful as you can see on the damage it caused to the church,” one police investigator told the Mindanao Examiner.

Army soldiers were also sent to the cathedral to help police secure church-goers; many did not know what had happened. “We did not know that a bomb had exploded here. We only saw many policemen and soldiers around and that’s it,” Joaquin dela Cerna in a separate interview.

The second blast also damaged the Vienna Kaffee Haus. The explosion ripped through the café’s steel door, creating a hole about a foot in diameter. Its neon sign was also destroyed and its façade damaged by shrapnel.

“It was really powerful. I heard the blast, but did not see anyone,” a security guard at the Foreign Affairs office said. He declined to give his name, but allowed photographers to take his pictures while inspecting the blast scene.

Last year, a powerful bomb explosion also injured at least 20 people in Zamboanga City. The bomb was planted at a public square in downtown Zamboanga. The Abu Sayyaf was initially blamed by the military for the August 21 attack. But three suspected bombers captured a week later by the police pointed to a military intelligence agent as the mastermind of the bombing.

The bomb was placed under a concrete bench at the Plaza Pershing, named after General John "Black Jack" Pershing, who led American troops fighting the Muslim rebels in Zamboanga and Sulu province in 1899. (Mindanao Examiner)

Blast Kills 3 In Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 30, 2008) – Three people were killed and over a dozen other wounded when a motorcycle rigged to an explosive was detonated late Wednesday in the southern Philippines, police and military reports said.

At least 22 people were wounded in the blast outside a tuna canning factory in General Santos City, southwest of Davao. Authorities said the explosive was rigged to a parked motorcycle outside the Philbest Canning Corporation in the village of Tambler.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the blast and police is still investigating the motive of the attack.

The 2.5-hectare cannery complex houses a power plant, a boiler area, a wastewater treatment facility, microbiology and chemical laboratories and a warehouse. It was not immediately known whether the attack targeted the cannery, which shipped canned tuna products to the United States, Japan and Europe.

General Santos City was previously bombed many times in the past by the Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels. (With a report from Mark Navales)

RP Authorities Beef Up Security After Bombing

Police and soldiers investigate the blast in Cotabato City in southern Philippines. Security is tight in Cotabato following the bombing of a pub late Thursday, Jan. 05, 2008. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Mark Navales)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 04, 2008) – Philippine authorities were in heightened alert following a bombing in Cotabato City in the troubled region of Mindanao, south of Manila, officials said Friday.

Police said a woman was killed and that seven others were wounded in the attack late Thursday at the pub called “Fama”. "There is an ongoing investigation and we still do not know who was behind the bombing," a police desk sergeant in Cotabato City said.

Most of the victims were women and the lone fatality, also a woman, was killed instantly by the powerful blast that decapitated both her legs. Police said an improvised explosive device was used in the bombing.

Glass doors and windows of establishments near the blast scene were also damaged by the powerful shock waves.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the attack, but Cotabato City, the seat of the Muslim autonomous regional government, has been previously bombed many times.

Soldiers on Friday were spotted deployed in Cotabato City and several groups were seen patrolling the outskirts. “We are helping police authorities patrol the city,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a regional army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Last month, government agents arrested an Egyptian cleric, Mohammad Al-Sayed and seized from his hideout in Cotabato City assorted explosives. The foreigner was freed two days later after the Egyptian Embassy interceded for his release. (Juan Magtanggol and Mark Navales)

Mindanao In Heightened Alert After Bombings

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 06, 2007) – Philippine authorities on Saturday ordered a heightened alert in Mindanao following two bombings that killed two people and wounded 32 others, officials said.

“We have taken steps to secure the safety of civilians and government installations,” Major Julieto Ando, a regional army spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the blasts occurred in the busy business district of Kidapawan City in North Cotabato province at around 7 p.m.

Two improvised explosives, one of them attached to a parked mini-van, detonated one after the other along Quezon Boulevard, the army spokesman said.

Among the dead was a ten-year old girl, Annie Mae Lozada. Christian and Muslim religious leaders, he said, quickly condemned the attacks which coincided with the holy month of Ramadan.

No groups claimed responsibility for the twin attacks, but previous bombings in the area had been blamed by Filipino authorities to the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya and their local counterpart, the Abu Sayyaf.

Last month, two homemade bombs exploded inside two commuter buses in Marbel town and in Cotabato City.

Australia last month warned of terror attacks in the southern Philippines and banned its citizens from traveling to Mindanao.

Aside from Zulkifli bin Hir, authorities said two Jemaah Islamiya bomb-makers, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both tagged by Jakarta as behind the 2002 Bali bombings, are also hiding in the southern region and so are about three dozen other accomplices. (Mindanao Examiner)

Twin Blasts Kill 2 In Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 05, 2007) – Two bomb attacks late Friday have killed two people and wounded more than two dozen others in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said the blasts occurred in the busy business district of Kidapawan City in North Cotabato province at around 7 p.m.

Two improvised explosives, one of them attached to a parked mini-van, detonated one after the other along Quezon Boulevard, said Major Julieto Ando, a regional army spokesman.

“Two people are killed in the blasts,” Ando told the Mindanao Examiner.

Among the dead was a ten-year old girl, Annie Mae Lozada.

No groups claimed responsibility for the twin attacks, but previous bombings in the area had been blamed by Filipino authorities to the Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiya and their local counterpart, the Abu Sayyaf.

Maj. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the bombs exploded in front of the Sugni department store and another establishment called Survived Marketing.

“At least 32 people are also wounded,” Ferrer said in a separate interview, adding, the number of injured was increasing.

He did not who was behind the bombings or whether it was connected to the Jemaah Islamiya or the Abu Sayyaf. Ferrer has said that security forces were tracking down Jemaah Islamiya militants in central Mindanao, including Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan.

Last month, two homemade bombs exploded inside two commuter buses in Marbel town and in Cotabato City.

Australia last month warned of terror attacks in the southern Philippines and banned its citizens from traveling to Mindanao.

Aside from Zulkifli bin Hir, authorities said two Jemaah Islamiya bomb-makers, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, both tagged by Jakarta as behind the 2002 Bali bombings, are also hiding in the southern region and so are about three dozen other accomplices. (Mindanao Examiner)

RP Military To Deploy Women Soldiers In Bus Depots

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 15 Jun) – The Philippine military on Friday raised its alert following two bombings in the southern region of Mindanao that killed at least 9 people.

Army Colonel Alan Luga, commander of the anti-terror group “Task Force Davao,” said female soldiers would be deployed in bus depots here to help police authorities inspect passengers, particularly women.

“We will be fielding women personnel to do body search,” Luga said. (With a report from Juley Reyes)

9 Dead In New Bombings In Philippines

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 15 Jun) At least 9 people were killed in one of two commuter bus bombings on Friday in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said a bomb exploded inside a bus in the town of Bansalan in Davao del Sur province at around 6 p.m., killing as many as 9 passengers. At least seven more were injured in the blast, said Lt. Col. Rolando Bautista, of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

“We are still awaiting reports,” he said.

Another bomb exploded at a bus depot in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province, but there were no reports of casualties, said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

“The bombing in Cotabato left no casualties, unlike in Davao where nine people are reported dead. The authorities are on high alert now because of the bombings,” Ando told the regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the twin blasts, but Ando said the explosion in Cotabato City could be the handiwork of extortionists, saying, the bus firm, Weena Bus Lines, received a letter on Thursday demanding two million pesos as “protection money.”

“The extortion letter was signed by one Commander Barum Bado. We never heard of the name, not even on the military’s order of battle. It could be an alias to cover the real identity of the bomber,” Ando said.

On Tuesday, Police foiled a possible car bombing after a car, laden with explosives, was discovered abandoned near the municipal hall of Surallah in South Cotabato province.

An informant tipped off authorities about the car bomb. Provincial police chief Robert Kiunisala said the car contained mortar bombs rigged to electronic timers and other explosives that would trigger detonation.

Last week, at least eleven people were wounded in separate bus bombings in South Cotabato.

Eleven people were killed and more than 100 others wounded in separate bomb attacks last month in Mindanao, where security forces are battling members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiya.

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. (Mark Navales and Romy Bwaga)

Photo: RP Police Released Sketches Of Suspected Bombers

Police Supt. Joel B. Limson, Tacurong City police chief, shows Wednesday, 09 May 2007, cartographic sketches of four suspected bombers in Tacurong City in the southern Philippine province of Sultan Kudarat. The military says as many as ten people are killed in the blast at a billiard hall on Tuesday.(Mindanao Examiner Photo Service/Mark Navales)

Terror Attack Kills 10 In Southern Philippines

MAGUINDANAO (Mindanao Examiner / 08 May) – At least three dozen people were killed and wounded in bomb attack late Tuesday afternoon in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said as many as ten people were killed and over two dozens more wounded in the blast at a packed billiard hall in Sultan Kudarat's Tacurong City.

“Initial reports said as many as ten people are killed in the bomb explosion,” a regional army spokesman, Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

He said authorities were investigating the motive of the attack.

Maj. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said more soldiers were sent to secure the area.

“More than two dozens are injured in the explosion and according to our reports, the blast was from an improvised explosive device left at the billiard hall,” he said in a separate interview.

Ferrer said army explosive experts were sifting through debris to determine what type of bomb was used in the attack. Other reports suggested the bomb was assembled from a mortar rocket and probably rigged to an electronic timer.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the blast, but suspicion fell heavily on the Indonesian terror group, Jemaah Islamiya.

“The Jemaah Islamiya could be behind the attack. It has the signature of the Jemaah Islamiya,” Ferrer said without further elaborating.

The attack occurred despite a tight police security in Tacurong City. Fresh military reports said terrorists may strike in the cities of Koronadal, General Santos, Kidapawan and Cotabato, all in the southern Philippines.

Just Sunday, soldiers detonated a homemade bomb near a police post in Tacurong after policemen discovered a package containing C4 explosive and steel pellets.

The latest attack came just a week after the United States, Canada and Australia warned their citizens against traveling to Mindanao island and the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines because of heightened terror activities.

Security forces are battling members of the al-Qaeda affiliate Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants and Moro National Liberation Front rebels.

A grenade attack last month in North Cotabato’s Pikit town injured three people working for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Another bomb attack in Midsayap town also in North Cotabato also injured one civilian. A man was also killed after a bomb he was transporting exploded in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province near North Cotabato.

Abu Sayyaf militants also beheaded six construction workers and a fisherman they kidnapped in Parang town in Jolo island on April 15 after their employer, Jolo governor Benjamin Loong rejected a ransom demand. (Juan Magtanggol)

Commies Accuse Arroyo War Dogs As Behind Mindanao Bombings

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 13 Jan) – The National Democratic Front accused the Arroyo government as behind the rash of bombings in the southern Philippines to justify the passage of an anti-terror law.

"The Arroyo regime stood to gain with the recent attacks as these will justify the passage of an anti-terrorism bill and a counterpart pact by the ASEAN members in Cebu," said Rubi del Mundo, spokesman of the regional National Democratic Front (NDF) in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

Three homemade bombs exploded late Wednesday in the cities of General Santos, Kidapawan and Cotabato, killing at least 7 people and wounding more than 40 people.

Authorities blamed the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, the Jemaah Islamiya and rouge members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The MILF, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila, implicated the Abu Sayyaf group. The attacks coincided with the opening of the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu.

“The latest Mindanao bombings serve to push foreign delegates of the ongoing summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cebu City to sign a convention urging the ASEAN to improve cross-border cooperation and share intelligence information against terrorist organizations,” Del Mundo said.

Del Mundo did not identify who were behind the bombings, but said they were the “war dogs” of the Arroyo administration. The NDF is the political wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines, whose armed group, the New People’s Army, is fighting for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)