ZAMBOANGA CITY, 16 June 2007 — At least five people were killed in one of two commuter bus bombings yesterday in the southern Philippines, officials said.
All of the fatalities were passengers of a bus which was hit by an explosion in the town of Bansalan, Davao del Sur province, at around 6 p.m., said Lt. Col. Rolando Bautista of the army’s 10th Infantry Division. At least seven more were injured in the blast, he said.
Another bomb exploded at a bus depot in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province, but there were no reports of casualties, said Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the army’s 6th Infantry Division.
In both bombings, the Weena bus line, which was hit by a deadly bombing a month ago, was the target of both attacks, said officials. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the twin blasts, but officials said the attacks could be the handiwork of extortionists, saying, the bus firm People’s Transport Co., received a letter on Thursday demanding two million pesos as “protection money.”
Eduardo Soledad, local manager for People’s Transport in Cotabato, said an extortion letter that arrived two days earlier claimed responsibility for a May 18 blast that killed a 5-year-old boy and demanded monthly payments of 2 million pesos (about $40,000) or more bombings would be carried out.
Ando said the extortion letter was signed by one Commander Barum Bado. “We never heard of the name, not even on the military’s order of battle. It could be an alias to cover the real identity of the bomber,” he said.
On Tuesday, Police foiled a possible car bombing after a car, laden with explosives, was discovered abandoned near the municipal hall of Surallah in South Cotabato province.
An informant tipped off authorities about the car bomb. Provincial police chief Robert Kiunisala said the car contained mortar bombs rigged to electronic timers and other explosives that would trigger detonation.
Last week, at least eleven people were wounded in separate bus bombings in South Cotabato. Eleven people were killed and more than 100 others wounded in separate bomb attacks last month in Mindanao, where security forces are battling members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group and Jemaah Islamiya.
The United States, Canada and Britain have issued travel warnings and strongly advised their citizens not to travel to the southern part of the Philippines because of threats of terrorism and kidnappings of foreigners. (With input from AP)
