AS many as 12 people were killed in a series of bomb explosions in Mindanao on Tuesday and Wednesday as police stepped up security in Metro Manila. The bombings came amid warnings from security experts that the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and Abu Sayyaf militant groups were plotting attacks in retaliation for the Philippines’ continued support of the US “war on terror.” In the latest attack a bomb made from a mortar shell rigged to a mobile phone exploded outside a commercial building in Cotabato City.
| “This is a terrorist attack aimed to kill,” Cotabato City Police Chief Peraco Macacua said. |
On Tuesday 12 people were killed and at least 42 wounded in a bomb blast in Makilala in North Cotabato during a celebration to mark the townÂ’s 52nd anniversary. The attack followed an earlier bombing in the busy market of Tacurong City, 50 kilometers from Makilala, which wounded four people.
Anticipating more attacks, the police and military forces were placed on heightened alert in Mindanao and in Metro Manila. The US and Australian governments issued warnings to citizens to restrict travel to Mindanao on the basis of intelligence reports that more attacks would be carried out in the region.
In Makilala, grieving and dazed relatives gathered at the cordoned-off blast site Wednesday as ordnance experts scoured the area for evidence. A second bomb, which failed to go off, was recovered near the municipal hall Wednesday. Its trigger mechanism, a cellular phone, apparently malfunctioned, police said. “The government will make sure that the perpetrators are hunted down and brought to justice,” Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in Malacañang.
| “Sovie is being held by military intelligence, and under questioning had told her interrogators that her husband would fight to the death. She also said attacks would be carried out against key targets in the south, where she said Jemaah Islamiah operatives were also training with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).” |
Sovie is being held by military intelligence, and under questioning had told her interrogators that her husband would fight to the death. She also said attacks would be carried out against key targets in the south, where she said Jemaah Islamiah operatives were also training with the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).