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October 11, 2006
Philippines: Up To 14 Dead In Bombings Blamed On Muslims
Bombs went off in the southern Philippines yesterday, with another exploded device recovered today near the scene of the worst of the attacks yesterday. The first bomb happened in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, in the southern island of Mindanao. Here, four people were initially reported injured, including a child. Tacurong is situated in a predominantly Christian agricultural region.
The second bomb went off 31 miles away in Makilala City in North Cotabato province, in front of the town hall. A bomb was left outside a liquor and food stall at 8 pm, as hundreds of people were celebrating the town's 52nd anniversary. At least 42 people were injured, and twelve people were killed.
The bomb had been placed in a box in one of the stalls.
According to DPA via the Bangkok Post, there had been a carnival and a flea market set up in front of the town hall. Most of the victims of the blast were taken to hospitals in nearby Kidapawan City. According to Superintendent Federico Dulay, provincial police chief for North Cotabato, the blast appeared to be the work of Jemaah Islamiyah.
A third bomb was detonated today, just before noon local time, states
Apparently a man wearing a white T-shirt and a cap left a package. Shortly after he left, this exploded.
A fourth bomb was discovered at the site of the Makilala blast, which had not detonated, states ABS-CBN News. The bomb was composed of two 81mm mortar shells and two 9-volt batteries and could be detonated via mobile phone, stated an armed forces spokesman. The bomb was detected by an electrician, employed by local government, who was repairing electrical wiring outside Makilala municipal hall. The device was found inside a bag.
The four injured in the blast at the market in Tacurong were named by the Manila Times as stall holders Chita Magon, 33, Bella Bantuko, 36, and Helen Mendoza, 20. Isabel Mariano, a small child, was injured in the blast, though not seriously. Chita Magon was said to be in a critical condition.
The latest news from ABS-CBN News is that there were nine people wounded in the Tacurong blast, and of these, two have died, according to military sources. The Tacurong bomb was comprised of a 60mm mortar shell, and had been detonated by mobile phone. Packed into a box, eyewitness accounts led the army to conclude that the device had been placed by two men and a woman.
According to Tacurong City police chief, Joel Limson, the bomb had been found by market security guards, who were alerted to its suspicious nature by wires protruding from it. The device was found at around 12.30 yesterday afternoon (local time), and the guards took it in front of a public toilet, where it exploded. Limson said: "If not for the prompt response of the market guards, the number of casualties could have been greater."
Philippines National Police chief, Oscar Calderon, had earlier blamed the Makilala town hall bombing, in which 12 people were killed, as the handiwork of a breakaway group from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). He suggested that these rogue elements of MILF, who were connected to the terror groups Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), may have been reacting to a recent event.
There are two JI fugitives who formerly hid with rebels from MILF and also with Abu Sayyaf leaders on Mindanao. These two, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, were wanted for involvement in the October 2002 bombings on Bali, in which 202 people died. When in November and January their hideout in the Liguasan Marsh of Mindanao was bombed, these, along with Abu Sayyaf members fled to the island of Jolo (Sulu province). We reported on October 6 that the wife of Dulmatin, Istiada Oemar Sovie, aka Amenah Toha, had been arrested on Jolo island. She is in custody, and Dulmatin's two children are in the care of the Filipino authorities. Calderon, Director General of Philippines national police, suggested that the Makilala bombing may have been in response to the arrest of Dulmatin's wife.
The suggestion that JI had committed the Makilala attack in retaliation for the arrest of Dulmatin's wife had also been made by Colonel Felipe Tabas, an army infantry commander. "These are part of their terrorist activities", he said.
The Inquirer reports that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered police, military and the negotiators of MILF (which is engaged in peace talks with the government) to hunt down the perpetrators of the bomb attacks.
Her spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said: "The government will make sure that the perpetrators are hunted down and brought to justice.....We are also asking the GRP-MILF ceasefire committees and joint action group to assist in the identification and interdiction of the bombers."
"The fight against terror is everybody's business. We have faced these threats in the past and we shall continue to neutralize them with full public vigilance and participation."
The first two explosions had taken place only a day after the United States Embassy had announced that it had received "credible information" that a terrorist group was plotting attacks in cities in central Mindanao "over the next several days."
In another report, the Inquirer reports that the Governor of North Cotabato Province, Emmanuel Pinol, has said that the bombing in Makilala City only killed six people, not 12. He also said that the bomb bore all the marks of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
This is doubtful. The MILF has officially denied any responsibility, and a bombing campaign by the main group would ruin the peace talks' outcome. There are only a few rebels from MILF involved with JI. It is far more likely to be the work of Jemaah Islamiyah, perhaps working with Abu Sayyaf and even Rajah Solaiman, Christian converts to Islam, who have worked with Abu Sayyaf and Ji in bombing campaigns on Mindanao.
According to yet another article from the Inquirer, the US, Australian, and British embassies "issued warnings against travel to Mindanao and said the threat of imminent attacks or kidnappings was high across the archipelago, specifically in places frequented by foreigners".
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 11, 2006 2:42 AM
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