3 Injured In New Bus Bombing In Southern Philippines

A truckload of soldiers return to a military camp in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines Wednesday July 18, 2007. A powerful bomb exploded on Wednesday inside a commuter bus in the southern Tacurong City, wounding 3 people, says regional army chief Maj. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 18 Jul) – An improvised explosive device went off inside a commuter bus in the southern Philippines, wounding three people, officials said.

Officials said the blast occurred minutes after the bus, owned by YBL, arrived in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province at around 12.30 p.m.

“Three people were injured in the blast,” Army Maj. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.
No group claimed responsibility for the blast, he said.

Ferrer said authorities were still investigating what type of explosive was used in the attack.

Last month, a powerful bomb exploded inside a passenger bus and killed 9 people and wounded seven more in Bansalan town in Davao del Sur province. Another bomb also went off in a bus in Cotabato City.

Police also foiled a car bombing in June in South Cotabato province in the volatile region of Mindanao, where U.S. forces are currently as part of the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, which is helping the Filipino military defeat terrorism.

The U.S. military provides training, advice, and security assistance, and shares intelligence information with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

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.

An Italian Catholic priest Giancarlo Bossi was kidnapped June 10 in Zamboanga Sibugay province by rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels. (Mark Navales and Juan Magtanggol)

Commuter Bus Bombed In Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 07 Jul) – A powerful bomb explosion ripped through a commuter bus Saturday in the southern Philippines, police and military authorities said.

The blast damaged a bus owned by YBL in Koronadal City in South Cotabato province, but there were no reports of casualties. The bus came from Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat province.

Authorities said the explosive was planted at the rear of the bus and detonated at around 5.35 p.m. when all the passengers had disembarked at a transport depot.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the blast. Police and military would not say whether the latest attack was connected to the terror groups Abu Sayyaf or Jemaah Islamiya.

The bus was bombed at a time the firm’s transport workers were threatening to stage a strike because of labor dispute.

Last month, a commuter bus owned by Weena Bus Lines was also bombed at a transport terminal in Bansalan town in Davao del Sur province.

Foreign embassies have warned their citizens against traveling in the southern Philippines because of threats of terror attacks and kidnappings for ransom. Filipino troops are battling Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiya militants in the volatile region.

Security forces are also pursuing rogue members of the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, who are holding an Italian Roman Catholic priest Giancarlo Bossi kidnapped June 10 in Zamboanga Sibugay province. (Juan Magtanggol)