Posted on 08/12/2005 2:44:11 PM PDT by mdittmar
ZAMBOANGA: At least 24 people were injured when two powerful blasts ripped through this southern Philippines city yesterday in what were described as "terrorist" attacks.
Police said the first explosion hit a mini-bus and a motorcycle at a parking lot in the commercial section of the city shortly after 7:00 pm (1100 GMT), wounding at least four people.
Another blast tore through the second floor of a building housing a popular fast-food restaurant and a small hotel in downtown Climaco Avenue just after 8:00 pm, briefly cutting power in the city of 700,000 people.
A third bomb was found in the restaurant and safely detonated by police. The mini-bus was reduced to tangled metal by the first blast while the interior walls of the hotel were completely knocked down by the second blast. Zamboanga city mayor Celso Lobregat said a total of 24 people were confirmed injured by the explosions which he compared to the London rush-hour attacks in July.
Local officials said most of the injured did not suffer serious wounds. "This is a very unfortunate incident. We are condemning the perpetrators. We are appealing to the residents to be calm and very vigilant," Lobregat said on local radio, describing the blasts as "terrorist" acts."This incident can happen anywhere. Even London was bombed twice but the city of London has fully recovered," he said. Lobregat said at least three unidentified people were being held for questioning, but he would not say if they were suspects or witnesses.
"The authorities are doing everything to identify the perpetrators of this senseless attack," he told reporters. Colonel Edgardo Gidaya, commander of an anti-terrorist task force based here, said the blasts were caused by "improvised explosive devices". He would not identify who might be behind the explosions and said there had been no advance intelligence reports of planned bombing attacks on the city. Investigators said their probe would focus on people who checked into the small hotel before the blast. Lobregat called an emergency meeting of top police, military and health officials immediately after the bombings.
The largely Christian city, which is also home to a significant Muslim community and lies in the west of Mindanao island, has been troubled by Islamic militancy with a number of bomb attacks in recent years. The local Muslim extremist group, the Abu Sayyaf has claimed responsibility for previous bombings. The group has been linked by US and Philippine intelligence agencies to the Sl-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden. The last major bombings in Zamboanga city took place on October 17, 2002 when two bombs exploded in a shopping mall, leaving six dead and 150 wounded. Zamboanga city has also been the base of US military advisors who have been training local troops in hunting down the Abu Sayyaf and other extremist groups. The latest bombings took place just two days after elections at a Muslim self-rule area elsewhere on Mindanao. However Gidaya said that there appeared to be no relation between the elections and latest blasts. - Reuters
I predict ground transport disruptions will be the predominate tactic of Al Queda.
I think you are probably right. Relatively easy and relatively effective. Damn them.
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