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Saturday, December 06, 2008
11 hurt in Mindanao blasts
DAVAO CITY -- Eleven persons were wounded in three separate bombings that happened in a span of 24 hours in Central Mindanao.
Police reports said the latest attack occurred at 7:10 a.m. Friday at the boundary of Shariff Aguak and Nabuntas villages in Mamamasapano, Maguindanao.
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Among the wounded are a soldier assigned with the 75th Infantry Battalion, a militiaman from the Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO), and two civilians.
The soldier was jogging when the improvised explosive device (IED) went off.
Initial reports gathered by Sun.Star Superbalita from Colonel Marlou Salazar of the Army's 601st Brigade said the bombs were fashioned out of a 60mm mortar.
The military has not yet given out the names of the wounded. The victims, however, were already declared out of danger.
In Sultan Kudarat, seven civilians were wounded following an explosion at the Isulan Public Market near Mercury Drugstore in Isulan town. The blast occurred at 8:10 p.m. Thursday.
Police identified the wounded as Helen Angcasan, Rowena Durana, Diego Sitti, Alfonso Honorata, Ramil Nobleta, Rey Tacuyan, and Gian Oloy. Most of the victims are residents of Isulan, Sultan Kudarat Province.
Six of the wounded victims already went home after undergoing treatment at the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Hospital. One of the victims remained at the hospital due to serious wounds.
The IED, planted beside a garbage bin and made from the ammunition of a 60mm mortar, exploded in front of the drugstore.
Angcasan, a sidewalk vendor who was among the wounded, said that a man and a woman left a plastic bag beside the garbage bin. The woman immediately left onboard an XRM motorcycle. After a few minutes, an explosion occurred.
Another bomb exploded fifteen minutes later at the Sultan Kudarat Electric Cooperative, also in Isulan, near a church of the Iglesia ni Cristo. No one was injured in the blast.
Sultan Kudarat Provincial Police Director Benhur Mongao said the bombing in Isulan is connected to the three IEDs defused outside the Iglesia ni Kristo church and the bomb that exploded beside the church of Jehovah's Witnesses in Kabacan, North Cotabato.
Colonel Marlou Salazar, 601st Brigade commander, said they believe the group of Kumander Basit Usman, team leader of local recruits of the international terrorist Jemaah Islamiah (JI), was behind the blast.
Usman is a known terrorist with links to JI. He was believed responsible for bombings in Mindanao last October 2006 that killed eight innocent civilians and left 30 others wounded.
He was also implicated in a recent series of bomb attacks in Mindanao that killed seven and wounded 37 others.
According to reports, the US Government Rewards Program is offering up to $50,000 for information leading to Usman's apprehension.
Authorities also believe that the lawless Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) group was behind the bombing incidents.
Major Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman for the military's Eastern Mindanao Command, said they already have the names of the perpetrators but would not reveal them while pursuit operations are ongoing.
Cabangbang said they have yet to establish if the bombers are related to the lawless MILF group, which is subject of a continuing offensive by the military in Mindanao.
The military and police have now tightened their security measures to ensure the safety of the civilians. (Eduardo Fuerzas/BPG/VR/Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Zamboanga. (December 6, 2008 issue)
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