Bomb components recovery prevented bombing

Thursday, February 9, 2012

THE recovery of bomb-making materials on Wednesday has prevented the possible loss of lives and destruction of properties in Zamboanga City, military officials said.

Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) chief Major General Noel Coballes said Thursday that the materials once assembled into bombs could cause big destruction as well as kill or inflict injuries.

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The recovered bomb-making materials include blasting caps; ammonium nitrate placed in a 1.5 liter container; electronic tester, nine-volt batteries; printed circuit boards; mini-drill; transistors; capacitors; light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs; soldering iron; soldering lead; diodes; and wires.

Task Force Zamboanga commander Colonel Buenaventura Pascual said it is possible that the Pingli Akilan group was the ones responsible in the bombing on October of last year in the village of Sangali, 25.3 kilometers east of the city.

The explosion that took place outside an eatery killed a construction worker and injured eight others.

This as the findings of the explosive ordnance demolition (EOD) of the local police showed that the bomb components used in the Sangali bombing are similar to the ones recovered Thursday in Landang Laum village, Sacol Island, according to Pascual.

The bomb-making materials were recovered when the four members of the Pingli Akilan group fled and abandoned their “jungkung-type” motorized banca following a brief firefight with government forces.

The bomb components were concealed in a tool box the troops found aboard the motorized banca.

The military and police forces were alerted and ordered to undertake proactive measures to prevent lawless elements from carrying out bomb attacks. (Bong Garcia)