Militant Bombings Hit Philippines

[David]

AP


A trio of bombs jolted the jittery Philippines on Monday, killing at least six people and wounding nearly 100 others, police said.

The Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, which is on Washington's list of terror groups, claimed responsibility, calling it retribution for a major ongoing military offensive against Islamic gunmen in the restive south.

One of the bombings was on a bus along a busy Manila highway just below a station for an elevated train and near the Intercontinental Hotel. Police said three people were killed and at least 60 others injured as the bus exploded in flames and sent debris that hit two other buses.

The back of the bombed bus was destroyed in the 7:30 p.m. blast and all of the windows were blown out.

A blast outside the Gaisano Mall in southern General Santos city about an hour earlier could be heard a mile away, witnesses said. Police said at least three people were killed and at least 28 others injured.

National police chief Edgar Aglipay said the bomb was believed to have been stashed in a bag at a stand for three-wheel taxis about 30 yards from the mall entrance.

Another bomb injured at least five people when it went off almost simultaneously at a bus terminal in Davao, also in the southern Philippines, home to a restive Muslim minority, terror groups and criminal gangs. Mayor Rodrigo called it "the handiwork of terrorists."

"You can attribute this to us," an Abu Sayyaf leader, Abu Solaiman, said in a call to local radio 20 minutes after the first two blasts. "There is one more to come," he said before the Manila blast.

In a second call to DZBB radio, Solaiman called the bombings a Valentine's Day "gift" to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"Our latest operations ? planned and executed with precision by the gallant warriors of Islam ? is our continuing response to the Philippine government's atrocities committed against Muslims everywhere," Solaiman said.

"We will find more ways and means to inflict more harm to your people's lives and properties, and we will not stop unless we get justice for the countless Muslims lives and properties that you people have destroyed."

Officials had expressed concerns over the prospect of a terrorist attack as the military carries out an all-out assault on Jolo island against a group of gunmen who recently attacked troops in the region, sparking clashes that have killed at least 60.

The gunmen are believed to include followers of jailed Muslim leader Nur Misuari, backed by Abu Sayyaf members.

"We warned our units about these threats as early as last week," Aglipay said. "We have already advised our policemen in the field to see to it that all necessary security measures be taken to avoid people being killed or injured."

A bombing killed at least 14 people and wounded 70 others Dec. 12 in General Santos, a bustling, predominantly Christian city of 500,000 people about 6000 miles south of Manila. Five people, all reportedly with links to the Abu Sayyaf, were arrested in connection with the attack.

The Abu Sayyaf also claimed responsibility for a bomb that exploded on a ferry in Manila Bay last year that killed more than 100 people.

Near-simultaneous bombings, also blamed on Muslim extremists and the regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, killed 22 people in Manila on Dec. 30, 2000. Most of the casualties were on a packed commuter train.