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Friday, September 30, 2005
4 suspected bombers arrested in Cotabato
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- Soliders and policemen arrested four suspected bombers and seized an explosive device with a mobile phone trigger in North Cotabato, police said Thursday.
The suspects, identified as Kasan Datukon, 29, Abdulsalam Abu, 30, Suhuddin Danda, 25, and Omar Bantas, 29, were nabbed at around 7 a.m. Wednesday during a routine inspection at a road checkpoint in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato, said Senior Inspector Raulito Soyum, the town's police chief.
Authorities believe the suspects are either members or recruits of the al Qaeda-linked extremist Abu Sayyaf group and trained in bomb making by operatives of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
Three other men who boarded the minibus with Datukon were also held for questioning, Soyum said in an interview with a local radio in Cotabato City.
The suspects underwent interrogation at the Army's 6th Infantry Division headquarters in Maguindanao province but are now in the custody of the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in the area.
Datukon placed the bomb inside a bag on the floor at the front seat of the minibus that was heading for Cotabato City, Soyum said.
He said Datukon later offered his seat to an old man and transferred to the roof of the vehicle with other passengers, a practice common in remote areas where transportation is difficult.
The bag was discovered at the checkpoint and the driver immediately pointed to Datukon as the owner.
The device was rigged to explode with a call from another cellphone carried by Datukon, Soyum said.
Major General Agustin Dema-ala, chief of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said the bomb was made from a 60 mm mortar round attached to a mobile phone.
Dema-ala said the group could be part of an alleged plot by 10 Jemaah suicide bombers, who are reportedly scouring Mindanao and Metro Manila for targets.
Dema-ala said the bomb was similar to other improvised explosive devices discovered or set off in several southern cities, and traced back to the Abu Sayyaf.
The Indonesia-based JI was tagged by the military as among groups responsible for bombing raids in Mindanao and Metro Manila. The group is also in the US state department's list of worldwide terrorist organizations funded by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. (With AP)
(September 30, 2005 issue)
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