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)

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)

4 Killed In Zamboanga City Explosion

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 09 Aug) – Four fishermen were killed and two others wounded Thursday when a vintage bomb they were tinkering in the southern port city of Zamboanga exploded, police said.

Police said the men brought the bomb in a house in Rio Hondo village and tinkered with it until it explode. The four were instantly killed by the powerful blast that almost leveled the house.

The wounded were rushed to hospital by neighbors. (Mindanao Examiner)

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)

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)