12 dead in Philippine bomb blast, 42 injured
By Maria Twink,WNS Philippines Correspondent
COTABATO - Twelve people were killed on Tuesday and at least 42 injured in a bomb blast in the southern Philippines, officials and police said. The bomb exploded in the town of Makilala on the southern island of Mindanao during a celebration to mark the town's 52nd anniversary, said Mayor Honofre Respicio. No one claimed responsibility for the blast.
Earlier, four people were injured when a bomb planted by suspected Muslim extremists exploded in the busy market of Tacurong City, just 50 kilometres from Makilala, North Cotabato province. In a radio interview Tacurong's Mayor Lino Montilla said the attacks were possibly carried out by Muslim extremist groups responsible for similar attacks in recent years. The second bomb went off in a row of food and liquor stalls set up in front of the Makilala town hall at 8:00 pm (1200 GMT) where hundreds of people had gathered for the celebrations, Respicio said.
A man carrying a plastic bag went to one of the stalls, set down the bag containing the bomb and bought a bottle of liquor. After he left, the bomb, which was made of an 81-mm mortar shell, went off, said provincial police chief Superintendent Frederico Dulay. Confusion reigned at the scene as the wounded were taken to various hospitals in the largely-Christian, agricultural town.
"It was a clear terroristic act," said Dulay although he would go into detail. Security forces fear the bombings may be related to a massive military offensive being mounted in the southern island of Jolo. The offensive is aimed at capturing two Indonesian Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomb-experts, Dulmatin and Umar Patek, along with their Filipino Muslim extremist hosts, the outlawed Abu Sayyaf group. Dulmatin and Patek are wanted for their part in the 2002 bombing on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed over 200 people, mostly western tourists.
posted by wnsworld @ 1:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home