[Kabar-indonesia] 12 dead in Philippine bomb blast, 42 injured

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: AP: Police say bombing kills at least 12 in southern Philippines;
and Reuters: Blast kills 12, injures dozens in Philippines

12 dead in Philippine bomb blast, 42 injured

COTABATO, Philippines, October 10 (AFP) -- Twelve people were killed
late 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 Tuesday four people were injured when a bomb planted by
suspected Muslim extremists exploded in the busy market of Tacurong
City, just 50 kilometers (31 miles) 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.

Local military chief Colonel Ruperto Pabustan said the bomb blast may
be a diversionary tactic to weaken the offensive against the JI and
Abu Sayyaf in Jolo.

It may also be in revenge for the arrest of Dulmatin's wife, Istiada
H. Oemar Sovie, in Jolo earlier this month.

"This is the signature of terrorist groups like JI and Abu Sayyaf," he
said, citing similarities to past bombings in the area.

"We have intelligence reports that more attacks are planned in
Mindanao urban centers."

Australia warned its citizens Tuesday to avoid parts of the
Philippines, saying credible reports indicated attacks on places
frequented by foreigners remained imminent.

The foreign affairs department, re-issuing a travel warning first
given in June, said the threat applied particularly to mainland
Mindanao in the south, the Zamboanga Peninsula and the Sulu
Archipelago.

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Associated Press
October 10, 2006

Police say bombing kills at least 12 in southern Philippines

By PAUL ALEXANDER, 
Associated Press Writer

MANILA Philippines

At least 12 people were killed and another 20 wounded when a bomb
exploded during a town festival Tuesday in the southern Philippines,
where security officials were put on alert for possible attacks by
al-Qaida-linked militants, police said.

North Cotabato provincial Police Chief Federico Dulay said the bomb,
believed to be made from an 88mm mortar shell, went off at about 8
p.m. (1200 GMT) in front of the town hall of Makilala town in the
southern part of the province.

"Clearly this is a terrorist act," Dulay said.

Another bomb injured five people earlier Tuesday in a public market in
Tacurong city, in southern Sultan Kudarat province, as U.S. and
Philippine officials said they had received credible intelligence that
a terrorist group may be planning to carry out bombings in the
southern Mindanao region, where the wife of a top Indonesian militant
was captured last week.

The U.S. Embassy warned that it had received "credible information"
about possible attacks, particularly in cities in central Mindanao,
"over the next several days."

Two Philippine security officials monitoring the area agreed, citing
possible retaliation for last week's arrest of Istiada Binti Oemar
Sovie on southern Jolo island, in the Mindanao region. Sovie is the
wife of Dulmatin, an al-Qaida-linked Indonesian militant and one of
Asia's most wanted terror suspects for his alleged role in the 2002
Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Quoting witnesses, Dulay said an unidentified man carrying a plastic
bag went to a stall selling alcohol in a crowded area along a highway
during celebrations of Makilala's founding anniversary, bought a
bottle of wine, then left.

The explosion occurred minutes later, killing a man and a woman on the
spot, he said. Ten other people died en route to a hospital in nearby
Kidapawan city or while being treated there.

A row of commercial stalls, a carnival and cultural presentations in a
nearby gymnasium have attracted crowds this week. The powerful
explosion destroyed a row of stalls and two motorcycle taxis and dug a
crater in the asphalt road, Dulay said.

"The area is a total wreck," Dulay told local DXND radio.

Makilala is a small banana- and rubber-producing town 950 kilometers
(590 miles) southeast of Manila. Communist and Muslim guerrillas are
known to have a presence in the town.

A security guard found the bomb in Tacurong, a predominantly Christian
agricultural region not far away. It was stashed in a bag filled with
packs of corn chips, and the guard hurled it away from a crowd before
it exploded, preventing more casualties, army Col. Felipe Tabas said.

"Nobody can do this except terrorists," he told The Associated Press
by telephone.

The bomb also was made from a small mortar round and could be remotely
triggered using a cell phone but it apparently went off prematurely
after the guard tossed it away, police Chief Superintendent German
Doria.

Such bombs have been used in the past by al-Qaida-linked groups like
the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah and its local ally, the Abu
Sayyaf group, but investigators were trying to determine if other
groups, like extortion gangs, were involved, Doria said.

About 10 security guards were deployed recently at the market because
of intelligence reports it could be targeted, he said.

In southern Zamboanga city, police are on alert to safeguard an annual
Roman Catholic festival that culminates with a public parade on
Thursday. The predominantly Christian city of about 700,000 has been
hit by deadly bomb attacks in recent years that were blamed on the Abu
Sayyaf, which is on a U.S. list of terrorist groups.

The United States has offered a US$10 million (euro7.9 million) reward
for the capture of Dulmatin and US$1 million (euro0.79 million) for
another Indonesian, Umar Patek. The two are believed to be hiding in
Jolo with Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez contributed to this story.

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Blast kills 12, injures dozens in Philippines

MANILA, October 10 (Reuters) - At least a dozen people were killed and
more than 40 were wounded when a homemade bomb exploded during a town
festival in the southern Philippines, army and police officials said
on Tuesday.

Federico Dulay, police chief of North Cotabato province, said a
homemade bomb, fashioned from a mortar round, exploded at around 8
p.m. (1200 GMT) near a packed gymnasium in Makilala town, which was
celebrating its 52nd anniversary.

"We are still investigating the incident," Dulay told reporters. "We
are not ruling out anything, including a terrorist attack."

The Philippines, a largely Catholic state, is fighting Muslim and
communist insurgencies on its southern islands, home to some of the
country's poorest communities and a significant Muslim minority.

A spokesman for the country's largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front, which is currently holding peace talks with
Manila, denied any involvement in the attack.

"Honestly, we have no role in these bombings," said Eid Kabalu.

Makilala is a Christian-dominated town with a small Muslim population.
Communist guerrilla group, the New People's Army (NPA), which has been
waging a rebellion since 1969, is also active in the area.

Earlier on Tuesday, a powerful blast ripped through a public market in
Tacurong city, around 50 km (30 miles) from Makilala, wounding four
people.

The local army commander said the Tacurong attack could have been the
handiwork of Muslim militants with links to Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a
Southeast Asian terror network that seeks an Islamic superstate in
parts of southeast Asia and Australia.

Local Muslim rebel group, Abu Sayyaf, has been sheltering members of
JI in the southern Philippines and around 6,000 troops have been
trying since Aug 1. to flush them out from the island of Jolo.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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