Twin blasts rock Basilan; Abu eyed

From the Manila Standard Today (Sep 21): Twin blasts rock Basilan; Abu eyed

Two explosions rocked Lamitan City in Basilan Friday, the second and third blasts to hit Mindanao, and three days after an improvised explosive device exploded and injured seven people in General Santos City.

The spate of bombings comes at a time when international Muslim jihadists have been trying to lure volunteers from around the world into joining an Islamic State first established in Syria and Iraq.

The Gensan blast was blamed on a group which allegedly had links with the IS,  but so far,  no group has owned up in the Basilan blasts.

Authorities, however, suspect that the kidnap gang Abu Sayaff Group, also allied with the al-Qaeda linked Jemmaah Islamiya, may be behind the blasts.

Lamitan City police chief Senior Inspector Gean Gallardo said the blast took place along the national Highway in Sitio Lagasan, Brgy. Kulay Bato, at past 9 p.m.

Gallardo said one of the explosives was placed at the foot of an electric post while the other was put under a nearby acacia tree.

Gallardo said extortion may be part of the motive of the blasts even as the police continue to gather evidence on the incident.

“They (bombers) wanted to scare the people in Lamitan in order to obtain money from the community,” Gallardo said.  He did not name any suspect pending the completion of the probe.             

On Monday, unidentified suspects threw a grenade inside a warehouse in Brgy Maganda.

But Lamitan police director Sr. Supt Mario Dapillosa said they are looking at the possibility that the explosion at the warehouse was accidental in nature.

But he added that they are still looking for hard evidence aimed at ‘ferreting the truth behind the incident because witnesses said the grenade came from the outside.”

No one was injured in the two blasts which Gallardo hardly affected the normal activities of Lamitan residents.

The explosions happened barely hours before a city government sponsored fun run was held at around 5 am the following day.

“In fact, we conducted a fun run sponsored by the city government and we had a good turnout,” Galardo said.

But Dapillosa said the new explosions at his jurisdiction maybe a  handiwork of the ASG and other lawless elements aimed at creating panic as he dispelled the presence of jihadists in Basilan.

But some reports said that Basilan was used as a training ground of the Jemaah Islamiya, where recruits learned jungle warfare and other techniques.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/09/21/twin-blasts-rock-basilan-abu-eyed/