Extortion group behind Tulunan bombing: SITG

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 1, 2021): Extortion group behind Tulunan bombing: SITG (By John Andrew Tabugoc)

EXTORTION TARGET. A unit of the Yellow Bus Line (partly hidden) that was allegedly targeted by the Al Khobar extortion group during the Jan. 27, 2021 bombing in Barangay Sibsib, Tulunan, North Cotabato. No one was hurt among the passengers, but the blast that occurred at a drop point killed a fruit vendor and wounded three bystanders. (Photo courtesy of Tulunan MPS)

TULUNAN, North Cotabato -- The police’s Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Sibsib has identified the Al Khobar extortion group as responsible for the Jan. 27 bombing incident here that killed one and injured three others.

Major Jun Napat, Tulunan police chief, said the group was identified based on the bomb fragments gathered by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Unit and Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) that matched with the signature improvised bombs used by the Al Khobar group in the past.

“The bombing survivors also managed to distinguish two suspects as the ones who planted the bomb at an abandoned ticket booth in Barangay Sibsib and are now ‘persons of interest’ in connection with the incident,” Napat said on Monday.

The bomb went off past noontime as a Yellow Bus Line (YBL) unit was approaching and about to unload passengers near the ticket booth adjacent to a waiting shed in Barangay Sibsib here.

Napat said “extortion” on the bus company was the primary motive in the bombing that killed fruit vendor Gina Paunon, 53.

The Tulunan bombing was connected to another bomb planted in the baggage compartment of a bus unit that was disarmed by the EOD team at the Kidapawan City overland terminal last month, the police official bared.

“We are still waiting for the official statement of the YBL regarding our findings,” he said, adding that the Al Khobar extortion group has been preying on big businesses in Central Mindanao since 2007.

The SITG Sibsib is composed of personnel from the Police Regional Office - 12, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the North Cotabato Police Provincial Office, and the Tulunan police office.

Meanwhile, the Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) has ordered all bus units plying the Tulunan route to load and unload their passengers only at the designated bus checkpoints, particularly in Barangays Bual and La Esperanza.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1129184