Blast kills at least 15 people in crowded market in RP

Blast kills at least 15 people in crowded market in RP

Jim Gomez, Associated Press/Manila

A powerful explosion ripped through a market packed with
Christmas shoppers in the southern Philippines on Sunday, killing
at least 15 people and injuring 58 others, the military said.

A homemade bomb or a grenade concealed in a box went off in
the market's meat section in General Santos city, where officials
immediately stepped up security, fearing more attacks.

"This is a terrorist attack by any measure," Senator Richard
Gordon, who heads the Philippine Red Cross, told ABS-CBN
television. He criticized the military and police for failing to
prevent the attack despite what he said was intelligence
information indicating a planned terror strike in the city.

"I'm getting reports from some of our people there that they
knew there was a plan to pull this off but still it happened,"
Gordon said. "They need to bolster their spying and their
surveillance of places that should be under guard."

He urged Red Cross chapters in nearby provinces to donate
blood for the injured.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo strongly condemned the
attack, saying there was no way to justify "this heinous deed"
which followed a period of calm in General Santos, a bustling
port city 1,000 kilometers south of Manila.

A bomb ripped through a shopping mall in General Santos in
2002, killing 14 people in an attack authorities there blamed on
the Moro extremist group Abu Sayyaf and a larger separatist
group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Some of those arrested
are being tried on multiple-murder charges.

Police investigator Capt. Maximo Sebastian said three people
were instantly killed by Sunday afternoon's bomb blast and other
victims died in hospitals.

"The market was packed with people because there were
Christmas flea market stalls there, and the explosion was
powerful," Sebastian told The Associated Press by telephone.

Soldiers and police cordoned off the area, fearing more
explosives may have been planted, said army Col. Medardo Geslani,
who heads a regional anti-terrorism force.

No group claimed responsibility and it was not yet clear if
terrorist groups were involved, he said.

"It was most possibly caused by an improvised explosive
device," said Geslani, adding that security forces would bolster
security in public places, intensify patrols and set up
checkpoints.

Despite a crackdown by the military and police, Muslim
militants are believed to still have a presence in General
Santos, a predominantly Christian city of 500,000. Islamic and
communist rebels operate in nearby provinces.

The sprawling archipelago has suffered a rash of bloody terror
attacks and mass kidnappings in recent years that largely have
been blamed on Muslim extremists. Communist rebels have staged
attacks on security forces, local officials and infrastructure
such as electricity and mobile phone transmission towers.

The Philippines has been a key ally in the U.S. war on
terrorism, with Washington providing extensive counterterrorism
training and gear for the poorly equipped military.

The Abu Sayyaf, an organization that appears on a U.S. list of
terror groups, claimed responsibility for a bomb that killed more
than 100 people on a ferry leaving Manila in February. It
continues to threaten attacks despite battle setbacks and a
reported lack of operational funds.