ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 7, 2009) – Two people were killed and at least 17 others were injured after a bomb explosion Tuesday near a Catholic church in Jolo town in the southern Philippine province of Sulu.
Witnesses said another improvised explosive was found outside the Mount Carmel Catholic cathedral and had been disarmed by Filipino and US troops. The US is helping the local military defeat terrorism in Sulu.
"They have recovered another bomb. There were US and Filipino soldiers, they disarmed the bomb," one witness said in cell phone text message sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
The wounded were rushed to hospital. No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the blast, but Abu Sayyaf militants with links to the Indonesian terror Jemaah Islamiya are largely blamed by the police for the attack.
The blast, which occurred around 7.45 a.m., damaged several hardware stores, police said.
“We are still investigating the motive of the attack and the type of explosive used in this attack. But there were scattered remains of a motorcycle in the area and bolstering our suspicion that a motorcycle bomb was used in the attack,” Chief Inspector Usman Pingay, the town’s police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner by phone from Jolo.
He said the bomb exploded in front of the Go Teck Leng hardware and the blast killed Vicky Sia, 62, and Hamsirani Hamsi, 60. He said among the wounded were three policemen.
It was the second bomb attack this week outside a Catholic church in the southern Philippines. On Sunday, an improvised bomb exploded outside a church in Cotabato City in Mindanao and killed 5 people and wounded 55 more. The military blamed the attack to Moro rebels and Jemaah Islamiya. (Mindanao Examiner)
Showing posts with label Mount Carmel Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mount Carmel Church. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Monday, July 30, 2007
Self-Confessed Bomber Spares Catholic Church From Attack In Philippines
MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 30 Jul) – A self-confessed bomber left a pack of explosives outside a Roman Catholic Church in the Philippine capital after backing out from a mission to blow up the building.
The man first confessed to a priest about his plan and then left the explosives outside the Mount Carmel Church in Quezon City late Saturday, the television network ABS-CBN reported.
The priest, Father Henry Praveendesoza, said the 40-year old man troubled by his conscience and decided to abandon his plan to bomb the church after he saw children praying.
"Father I want to bomb the church. When I saw the children, I disarmed it and took away the wires," the priest said, quoting the unidentified man.
After the confession, the priest said he went out of the church in fear that the bomb may still explode. The man followed him and then hurriedly left. The church’s security camera showed the man fleeing the church compound.
The security video also showed a well-dressed man stepped out of a car and casually walked to the church and then took the explosives while a second man appeared to be giving instructions to two companions.
It was unknown whether they were companions of the man who left the bomb.
The failed bombing came of the eve of the opening of the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Manila and two days before the start of a government offensive against Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels blamed for the killing of 14 marine soldiers in the restive region of the southern Philippines.
The MILF is currently negotiating peace with Manila.
It was unknown whether the failed bomber belongs to a rebel group or rightist soldiers who wanted to derail the peace talks.
Detained soldiers who were involved in a failed mutiny in Manila in 2003 said the military was behind several bombings of mosque and civilian targets in the southern Philippines. The bombings, they claimed, were later blamed to the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf, an accusation denied by the government.
They said a purported secret government documents dubbed as “Oplan: Green base” detailed a military plan to bomb civilian targets and then blamed Muslim rebels for the terrorism. The military said the documents were faked. (Mindanao Examiner)
The man first confessed to a priest about his plan and then left the explosives outside the Mount Carmel Church in Quezon City late Saturday, the television network ABS-CBN reported.
The priest, Father Henry Praveendesoza, said the 40-year old man troubled by his conscience and decided to abandon his plan to bomb the church after he saw children praying.
"Father I want to bomb the church. When I saw the children, I disarmed it and took away the wires," the priest said, quoting the unidentified man.
After the confession, the priest said he went out of the church in fear that the bomb may still explode. The man followed him and then hurriedly left. The church’s security camera showed the man fleeing the church compound.
The security video also showed a well-dressed man stepped out of a car and casually walked to the church and then took the explosives while a second man appeared to be giving instructions to two companions.
It was unknown whether they were companions of the man who left the bomb.
The failed bombing came of the eve of the opening of the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Manila and two days before the start of a government offensive against Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels blamed for the killing of 14 marine soldiers in the restive region of the southern Philippines.
The MILF is currently negotiating peace with Manila.
It was unknown whether the failed bomber belongs to a rebel group or rightist soldiers who wanted to derail the peace talks.
Detained soldiers who were involved in a failed mutiny in Manila in 2003 said the military was behind several bombings of mosque and civilian targets in the southern Philippines. The bombings, they claimed, were later blamed to the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf, an accusation denied by the government.
They said a purported secret government documents dubbed as “Oplan: Green base” detailed a military plan to bomb civilian targets and then blamed Muslim rebels for the terrorism. The military said the documents were faked. (Mindanao Examiner)
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