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Friday, March 11, 2005
3 homemade bombs found inside mall
By Edwin G. Espejo
THREE incendiary bombs were recovered at the men's ready-to-wear section of KCC mall early last week causing authorities to further heighten security around the city.
Police said one of the bombs was lit but failed to explode and was immediately noticed by a sales lady.
The two other bombs, placed inside the pockets of jeans at the same section of the mall, were sniffed by a company-owned K-9 squad.
Mall owners declined to issue any statement to the local media here and refused request for interview.
A Sun.Star source, who declined to be identified, however said the incendiary bombs were fashioned out from a 3310 Nokia cellular phones and were obviously meant to cause a fire.
At the time the bombs were discovered, the mall was already closed to the public.
No one has claimed responsibility over the planting of the said bombs but the incident was the second threat of its kind in less than three weeks.
Two days before the Valentine's Day blast at Gaisano General Santos, KCC Mall also reportedly received a bomb threat.
On April 1, 2002, the old building of the said shopping center was razed to the ground after it was hit by a big fire allegedly caused by an incendiary device.
The Abu Sayyaf then claimed responsibility over the said incident, which came less than a month after another shopping mall, Kimball Plaza, was also burned to the ground.
Self-confessed Abu Sayyaf leader Noor Mohammad Umug alias Abu Muslim Al-Ghazie also claimed responsibility over the said Kimball Plaza fire.
Three weeks later, 15 people were killed when a powerful bomb exploded outside Fitmart Department Store, less than 200 meters away from the City Hall.
Umug was eventually captured several months later and reportedly confirmed the involvement of the Abu Sayyaf in the series of arson and bombing attacks in the city that year.
For Bisaya stories from General Santos. Click here. (This section is updated every Monday)
(March 7, 2005 issue)
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