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Saturday, October 06, 2007
1 killed, 30 injured in Kidapawan twin blasts
KIDAPAWAN -- Twin bomb blasts near a department store in a southern Philippine city Friday killed a child and injured more than two dozen others, authorities said.
Two improvised explosive devices went off on the sidewalk in front of the Sugni Super Store in Kidapawan city, about 100 meters (yards) apart, police and the military said.
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Witnesses said a passenger minibus and a motorcycle taxi were damaged.
Police said they were questioning a man who was seen close to the site of the first explosion.
The City Disaster Coordinating Council said a 10-year-old girl buying peanuts from a vendor was killed and at least 30 others were wounded, several with severe leg injuries.
"We are not discounting terrorism, but we are also looking at extortion," said Colonel Pedro Soria, a local military commander.
He said the area is a stronghold of the Al-Khobar extortion gang, which is suspected of links with al-Qaeda-linked militants hiding in the southern Philippines.
The group has been blamed for a series of bomb attacks on passenger buses in the south in recent months, reportedly after the companies refused to heed extortion demands.
Police said the first bomb exploded around 7 p.m., and the second, about a minute later, near other shops and a barbecue stand along the city's busiest street.
Among those wounded were students waiting for rides home.
Witnesses said people fled in panic after the first blast.
Several injured victims tried to crawl away from the scene, blood trailing from their legs.
Kidapawan is capital of Cotabato province, about 925 kilometers (578 miles) southeast of Manila.
In June, the US Embassy had warned its citizens to avoid Kidapawan and Makilala in central Mindanao island -- home to a decades-old Muslim separatist rebellion and al-Qaeda-linked militants -- because of information terrorists may set off bombs in bus terminals and public markets.
A bomb blast near a police outpost in Kidapawan injured two passers-by early January. A year ago, eight were killed and 22 wounded in an explosion in Makilala. (AP)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Zamboanga. (October 6, 2007 issue)
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