4 people hurt in grenade attacks in South RP

Victims of a grenade explosion in Kidapawan City. (Mindanao Examiner / Giovani Solmerano)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / January 1, 2009) – Four people were injured, including a government soldier, in two separate grenade attacks in the southern Philippines, officials said Friday.

Officials said a grenade blast in Kidapawan City in North Cotabato province on Friday left three people injured. The attack is being investigated by the police.

One government soldier was also wounded after a grenade explosion on New Year’s Eve outside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Sulu province.

Officials said the blast occurred at around 11.20 p.m. Thursday outside the Our Lady of Mount Carmel cathedral in Jolo town. The soldier guarding the church was hit by shrapnel.

Sulu military chief Marine Brigadier General Rustico Guerrero said the grenade exploded at Rizal Park in front of the church. “The explosion injured the soldier who was detailed to guard the church,” he said.

It was unknown who lobbed the grenade and no group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Sporadic clashes in Sulu since September had killed dozens of gunmen and soldiers, including two members of the US Special Forces, after the military launched attacks against the Abu Sayyaf and Moro National Liberation Front rebels during the Eid Fit’r, one of the most important Muslim celebrations after the holy month of Ramadan.

The rebels who were followers of former MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari declared a holy war or jihad against the military for disrespecting the Eid celebration. Marine Major General Benjamin Dolorfino, chief of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, ordered the assault.

US troops are deployed in Sulu since 2006 and helping the military defeat terrorism. Last year, the church was attacked twice by Abu Sayyaf militants who also threatened to abduct and kill priests and nuns and missionaries in Sulu.

The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed by the police and military for the spate of kidnappings for ransom and terrorism in the southern Philippines. In 1997, militants shot dead Sulu Bishop Benjamin de Jesus as he was walking in front of the cathedral. And three years later, militants also shot dead another priest Benjamin Inocencio in Jolo town. The Abu Sayyaf was also blamed for the kidnapping of two Spanish nuns and an American missionary in Jolo in the 1990s. (With a report from Arlene Solmerano)

US troops escape blast in Jolo

Undated photos show US troops in the southern Philippine province of Sulu. A blast hit a wharf in the capital town of Jolo where US troops are unloading equipment from a boat on Monday, September 14, 2009. (Midnanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 15, 2009) – An explosion hit a wharf in the southern Philippine town of Jolo while US soldiers were unloading equipment from a boat, officials told the Mindanao Examiner on Tuesday.

Officials said the blast occurred late Monday, but there were no reports of casualties.

“There is an ongoing investigation into the blast. Soldiers found no shrapnel in the area and we still don’t know who was behind it,” said Major Ramon David Hontiveros, a spokesman for the Philippine military’s Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City.

He said the explosion occurred near a military detachment adjacent a building where stalls are selling small electronic appliances and textiles. Hontiveros said a pillbox was probably used in the attack since no fragments of explosive were found in the area.

The military earlier said a grenade exploded in the wharf where the American troops were unloading cargoes from their boat.

Locals also reported they heard a burst of automatic gunfire following the explosion. Other reports said soldiers indiscriminately fired their weapons, hitting a nearby mosque and small buildings, but this was denied by Hontiveros.

“That’s not true,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Police has begun an investigation into the explosion. “We have dispatched a team to investigate the blast,” Inspector Usman Pingay, the town’s police chief, told by phone from Jolo.

Pingay said the wharf was tightly secured by local soldiers and policemen at the time of the blast.

Dozens of US troops are deployed in Jolo the past years and have been assisting local military in defeating Abu Sayyaf terrorism. They have put up a base inside a military headquarters, but it is off-limits to Filipino soldiers.

American soldiers are also helping in various humanitarian projects aimed at winning hearts and minds and get the support of the local Muslims. (Mindanao Examiner)

2 soldiers wounded in Jolo blast

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 30, 2009) – Two government soldiers were wounded when a homemade bomb exploded late Sunday in the town of Jolo in the southern Filipino province of Sulu, officials told the Mindanao Examiner.

Officials said the explosive was planted at a road near the Jolo airport outside a Philippine Air Force base.

“An IED exploded in the vicinity of the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Tactical Operations Group 9 in Jolo town,” said Major General Benjamin Dolorfino, chief of the military’s Western Mindanao Command.

Police chief Muhibuddin Ismail said the explosion wounded two soldiers – Nasir Asid, 38, and Jamil Sadjiron, 48 – both members of the Philippine Army’s Engineering Brigade.

"The wounded soldiers were rushed to hospital," Ismail said by phone from Jolo.

The duo was on a motorcycle passing near the area when the bomb went off. They were hit by shrapnel. There were no reports of damage to properties.

No group claimed responsibility for the blast, but Abu Sayyaf militants are actively operating in the largely Muslim province. The attack occurred just as Muslims were praying in mosques in Jolo town.

Muslims around the world are observing the fasting month of Ramadan which began last week. (Mindanao Examiner)

Bomb materials seized in Sulu province

MANILA, Philippines - Security forces seized on Thursday a large quantity of explosive materials during a raid of a safe house of a man believed to be supplying bomb materials to the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf at Sulu’s capital town of Jolo, the Philippine News Agency reported.

The supplier, Hadji Abud Akmad, left his house prior to the raid conducted by troops from the 2nd and 3rd Marine Brigades and Jolo police station because he learned of the impending raid, said Sulu-based military spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo.

At around 1 p.m., Arevalo said the troops swooped down on the house of Akmad at Chinese Pier village in Jolo town based on a tip provided by an unnamed informant.

A search of the house yielded 14 sacks (25 kilos each) of ammonium nitrate; an additional 13 kilos of the same bomb ingredient; a sack of potassium chlorate; 3,600 pieces of blasting caps casings; 900 pieces of ready blasting caps; 13 rolls (at 7 meters each) of time blasting fuse, a 40mm caliber pistol with 14 rounds of live ammunition and; a passport of Akmad; a Nokia cellular telephone with battery and P80,000 cash in P1,000 denomination.

“Hadji Nahrin Abud Akmad, the reported owner of the house, is an alleged supplier of explosive components to terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group that perpetrated several bombing incidents in Sulu,” said Arevalo.

The latest bombing perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf was the April 3 landmine attack against Marine soldiers at Latih village in Patikul town, that resulted in the wounding of six soldiers and damage to the truck they were riding.

Arevalo said the seizure of the explosive materials aborted supposed plans by the Abu Sayyaf to carry out more attacks, principally to divert military focus from the ongoing hostage crisis in the province.

The Abu Sayyaf bandits are still holding two members of the International Committee of the Red Cross – Swiss Andreas Notter and Eugenio Vagni – in Sulu. The two, along with already released Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba, were abducted last Jan. 15.

“The confiscation of the said explosive devices and components aborted the reported bombing operations that the bandits intend to conduct,” said Arevalo.“Intelligence report gathered indicates that the bombing operations are to be directed against civilians and military personnel both to divert attention from the constricting operations the security forces are conducting and to terrorize the people of Sulu,” he added.

Two killed, 4 wounded in explosion in Southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 16, 2009) – Two people were killed and four more wounded in an explosion late Monday at a beer joint in the largely Muslim province of Sulu in the southern Philippines, police said.

Police said the blast, blamed on the terrorist Abu Sayyaf group, occurred at around 8.45 p.m. in the capital town of Jolo. “The explosion targeted the beer joint,” said Chief Inspector Usman Pingay, the town’s police chief.

Pingay said they were investigating reports the explosion came from a bomb was planted in the place. “We are still waiting for more reports,” he told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from Jolo town.

He said they deployed additional police forces to patrol the town and guard vital government installation in Jolo, previously bombed by the Abu Sayyaf which is holding hostage three Red Cross workers – Swiss national Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba since January 15.

“We have reports saying that the UTG was responsible for the attack,” Pingay said, referring to the urban terrorist group, a unit of the Abu Sayyaf.

But the military’s Western Mindanao Command said the explosion was from a grenade tossed by an unidentified man at the karaoke house owned by Eddie Feguracion. “The assailant fled (after the attack) and (is) still at-large,” said Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a regional army spokeswoman.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred after security forces clashed early today with the Abu Sayyaf group holding the aid workers.

An Abu Sayyaf commander, Albader Parad, was either wounded or killed in the fighting in the hinterlands of Indanan town, police and military said.

There were no reports about the fate of the captives. The Abu Sayyaf was reported to have demanded $10-million ransoms for the safe release of the hostages. (Mindanao Examiner)