A tricycle drives past a burning car where a bomb that killed at least one person and injured 48 others is believed to have been planted in Zamboanga City. (photo courtesy of BNFM Zamboanga)
UPDATE 2 - 11:40 a.m., January 24, 2015) Two persons were killed and 47 others injured Friday as a parked car exploded in the southern Philippines, with the local authorities blaming the blast on al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militants.
Dr. Rodelin Agbulos, city health office, identified the second fatality as Dennis Valente, who was earlier listed in critical condition. The first fatality, Reynaldo Tan, 38, died at a hospital several minutes after the explosion.
Agbulos added that 10 of the wounded remained in hospitals as of Saturday morning.
Witnesses told police a parked car went up in flames and was torn to pieces in a powerful mid-afternoon blast that shattered glass panels in a commercial section on Zamboanga city's outskirts.
A bomb squad member suits up by the car where an IED is believed to have been planted. (BNFM Zamboanga)
"There was a suspected bomb in the car," Senior Superintendent Angelito Casimiro, the city police chief, told reporters.
The explosion occurred in front of a pub and across the street from a bus terminal, he said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, he said.
Most of the other casualties were cut from flying glass shards and are being treated at nearby hospitals, Casimiro added.
Emergency responders give first aid to a victim (BNFM Zamboanga)
Zamboanga city Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco alleged the blast was linked to a plan by the Abu Sayyaf armed group to spring 57 comrades detained at the city jail.
She demanded that the national government remove the prisoners from the city and transfer them to a detention facility elsewhere so the city would not be targeted by bombings.
"This is an SOS call for the 57 inmates to be removed and transferred for the safety and protection of the city," Climaco told reporters.
Officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao condemned the explosion, with Governor Mujiv Hataman calling the perpetrators "cowards."
The Abu Sayyaf, a loose band of a few hundred militants founded with seed money from Al Qaeda, has been blamed for the worst terror attacks in Philippine history.
These have included the bombing of a ferry in Manila in 2004 in which more than 100 people died, and repeated kidnappings of foreigners in the southern Philippines who are usually ransomed off for huge amounts.
Emergency responders carry off a victim on a gurney (BNFM Zamboanga)
Many foreign governments warn their citizens against travelling to the southern Philippine areas, including Zamboanga, which are regarded as strongholds for the Abu Sayyaf and other Islamic militants.
The Abu Sayyaf claims it is fighting to establish an independent Islamic homeland in the Muslim populated south of the mainly Catholic Philippines.
The Zamboanga city jail warden, Julius Arro, told reporters that prison authorities foiled an attempt by unknown supporters to slip at least one gun and 100 bullets to Abu Sayyaf detainees on Monday.
No arrests were made, he added.
Since 2002, US troops have been helping train and advise Filipino troops fighting Abu Sayyaf militants, and the group has been mostly contained in recent years.
In September 2013, Zamboanga was attacked by another Muslim armed group loyal to former Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari.
The attack triggered three weeks of street battles that left more than 240 people dead and large parts of the city of nearly one million in smouldering ruins.
Debris lies on the street as security personnel and bystanders look at a building damaged by the blast. (BNFM Zamboanga)
During the fighting, in which the rebels also used civilians as human shields, about 10,000 homes were destroyed by fires, forcing 116,000 to flee.
Misuari remains at large and faces rebellion charges alongside 57 detained attackers.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/103658/2-killed-47-injured-as-car-explodes-in-zambo-local-execs-blame-abu-sayyaf
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