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)

Blast Injures 4 People In South RP

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 30, 2008) – Four people were wounded, including an eight-year old girl, in an explosion late Thursday in the southern Philippine province of Sultan Kudarat, army reports said.

The explosion occurred at around 7 p.m. in Esperanza town and that two of the wounded - Mohalidin Singson, 26; and Narrez Hadjiali, 32 - were being investigated by the authorities.

Both men, who are native of Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao province, were believed carrying the explosive when it accidentally went off and also injured Dina Varona, 44, and Clarine Velasco, 8, all local residents.

It was unknown whether the two men are members of any rebel group, but the province is a known stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front which has been fighting for self-determination the past three decades.

On Tuesday, government soldiers disarmed three improvised bombs planted at a bus depot in North Cotabato’s Kabacan town.

The explosives were assembled from two 81mm and a 60mm mortar bombs and connected to blasting caps and batteries, according Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, spokesman of the 6th Army’s Infantry Division.

Ando blamed rogue MILF members as behind the foiled bombing. Security forces were pursuing rebel forces under Ameril Kato, Abdullah Macapaar and Sulayman Pangalian, who led a series of deadly attacks against civilian targets in August after the failed signing of the Muslim territorial deal with the MILF.

Manila suspended peace talks with the rebel group because of the attacks that killed and wounded dozens of people in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte and Sarangani provinces.

Police and military authorities previously blamed the spate of bus depot bombings to the Al-Khobar gang. (Nickee Butlangan)